éléments par Martin Brinkmann

Two-hundred-and-eighty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The new Windows 10 update that Microsoft released on April 30, 2018 does not play well with some Intel and Toshiba Solid State Drives. Microsoft blocked the update as a consequence and started an investigation. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-eighty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft announced recently that it will increase the revenue share for Windows app developers to up to 95 percent. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-eighty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Windows 10 version 1803 update is out; since it has quite a large number of bugs and issues, you may find Wayne's tutorial on rolling back to the previous version of Windows useful. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-eighty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft seems to be working on a new edition of Windows 10. Windows 10 Lean is a compact version of the OS that has a much smaller footprint than other editions of the operating system. Check out Mark's article on Windows 10 Lean for additional information. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released another potential RTM candidate for the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update recently; the company postponed the launch of the update due to a reliability bug that was discovered before release. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft postponed the release of Windows 10 version 1803, the Spring Creators Update, due to blocking bugs. The company has not revealed a new date yet for the release. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft will release Windows 10 version 1803, the Spring Creators Update, this month. Check out Mark's guide on getting a headstart and upgrading to the new version of Windows 10 early. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft added the new Edge Extensions page to the Store recently. The Store page lists recent and popular Edge extensions, and also extensions by category. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft reduced the offline time during feature updates of Windows 10 significantly and Windows 10 users and admins will notice this during upgrades to the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft wants to release the Spring Creators Update for Windows 10 in April. Whether that is going to happen on April's Patch Tuesday or another day is not clear yet. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Several new Insider builds were released this week in preparation for the next feature release for Windows 10. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft is still working on getting the next feature update for Windows 10 ready for release this month or the next. The company released two new Windows 10 Spring Creators Update builds this week alone. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Fall Creators Update is on 85 percent of all Windows 10 PCs according to AdDuplex. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seventy in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all offers. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games are… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all offers. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games are… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Depending on which service you believe when it comes to Windows 10's usage share, the operating system either overtook Windows 7 last month or did not. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Fall Creators Update is now installed on nearly 75 percent of all Windows 10 PCs according to AdDuplex data. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft plans to move Font management to the Settings application in the next feature update of Windows 10 (out March/April 2018). Users may download fonts from the Store. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Microsoft Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Windows 10 version 1709, is available to all now. Microsoft is introducing subscription add-ons for Windows 10 version 1607 and newer. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft ended the streaming functionality of Groove Music some days ago and removed the Music entry from the Store entirely. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft will end the last official option to upgrade a Windows machine to Windows 10 for free. The company ends the free upgrade option to users who use Assistive Technologies on December 31, 2017. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Google put an installer for its Chrome browser in the Windows 10 Store for a few hours before it was removed by Microsoft. Mihaita has the details on that. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all offers. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games are listed… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released Windows Template Studio 1.5 this week, which assists developers in creating UWP applications. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all offers.… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft revealed this week that the company's Windows 10 operating system was installed on more than 600 million devices. Also, Microsoft Edge final is now available on iOS and Android. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft started its Black Friday sale early this year. You can get discounts on hardware and software. Brian covered the details. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft announced recently that it will extend support for the Windows 10 November Update version that was released in 2015 for another six months for Enterprise and Education customers. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft added options to the Microsoft Store version 11709.1001.7 and newer to shop for Surface hardware. This is only available in the US, UK and Australia for the time being however. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft announced this week that it will end the free upgrade offer to Windows 10 for customers who use assistive technologies this year. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Fall Creators Update is out. Check out Wayne's guide on rolling back to a previous version of Windows 10, and Mark's guide on fixing missing applications after installation. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released the Fall Creators Update for Windows 10 this week. Read Wayne's guide on delaying the update if you don't want to install it right away. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. A new Photos Add-on application landed on some Windows 10 systems after installation of the October 2017 update for the operating system. It added options to manage add-ons and DLC in the settings, according to ZDnet. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update RTM to Insiders this week in preparation of a global release on October 17th, 2017. The company released, or plans to release, Edge for iOS and Android as well. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will be released in a couple of weeks, but a quarter of Windows 10 systems are still not on the Creators Update version of Windows 10. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released several new Windows 10 Fall Creators Update builds to the Insider channel this week. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft announced this week that it will give users greater privacy control by adding the full privacy statement to the setup process, and more prompts to apps requesting access to certain permissions such as contacts or the microphone. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft confirmed this week that the next feature update of Window 10, the Fall Creators Update, will launch on October 17, 2017. In other news, over a third of Windows 10 devices have not yet upgraded to the Creators Update. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released a number of new Insider Preview builds this week: build 16275, build 16278, and build 16353. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft promised this week that it would never again force Windows upgrade downloads on users. Microsoft announced furthermore that it would pull creation support for ReFS from Windows 10 Pro. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft announced a new high-end edition of Windows 10 last week. Windows 10 Pro for Workstations expands hardware support among a handful of other changes. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals.… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. This week saw only a couple of new releases for Windows 10. Noteworthy ones include the new Telltale adventure game about Batman, Enjoy Brick, an app to browse all Lego sets and models, and Reddit Slideshow, an interesting app to create image slideshows from images posted to Reddit. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released a build of Windows 10 S, a new version of Windows 10 designed specifically for Education, which you can now download and install. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals.… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft revealed the features that are being removed or deprecated in the Fall Creators Update this week. The company announced as well that it would make the classic MS Paint program available through Windows Store after its deprecation. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-forty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. We are just months away from the release of the next big update for Windows 10, the Fall Creators Update. Only 50 percent of all Windows 10 devices have received the current feature update -- the Creators Update -- so far, which makes it likely that some systems may go straight to the next release when it arrives. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The popular image editor Paint.net is coming to the Windows Store. Check out Mark's article for additional information on that. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. July is Anime Month in Windows Store, with deals for Anime TV shows, movies and games across the board. The Windows Store games sale is still on as well. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Microsoft Ultimate Game Sale 2017 starts today (until July 10), and games are not only discounted up to 65 percent on Xbox, but also on Windows 10. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released another Windows 10 Fall Creators Update build this week. It introduced a lot of new features, but also has been causing major issues for some users. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released a new Windows Insider build recently, and it brought back one of the most requested features: OneDrive placeholders. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released a massive Insider Preview update yesterday that introduces new features such as dictation support, better Start menu handling, website pinning, and a lot more. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Windows 10's growth continued in May, but at a snail-like pace. The operating system increased its share by 0.5 percent, down from the 0.92 percent growth the month before that. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The roll out of the Windows 10 Creators Update is still ongoing. Wayne notes that it is at 15.2 percent of users in the US right now, which means that it will take a while longer before the new version is on the majority of Windows 10 PCs out there. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good,… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. This week saw several strong releases including the new Microsoft application Send to OneNote, the excellent vector graphics designer Gravit Designer, and the popular game Survival Arena. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft revealed during the keynote speech at the Build 2017 developer conference that Windows 10 is installed on 500 million active devices, and that iTunes will make an appearance in the Windows Store later this year. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft revealed the new Windows 10 S edition officially this week, and along with it a new Surface laptop that runs it. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. This year's Build conference will feature the first Windows Developer Awards, and there are two categories for game and app creators. You can cast your vote and check out the nominated apps and games with a click on the link above. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft has set its sights on September 2017 for the next Windows 10 feature update. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Windows 10 Creators Update is available through Windows Update now. If you prefer an image on USB or DVD, check out Wayne's post on how to do so. The Windows Store Spring Sale has also started now, featuring discounts on games, apps and more. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. The Windows 10 Creators Update is available already. You can check out Mark's post on how to install it if you need help with that. Along with the update come changes to the Store's rules. One of them bans emulators officially. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days Microsoft revealed recently that the Windows 10 Creators Update will be released on April 11. Read Wayne's article on getting the update a week early. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft seems to have found the Windows 10 Creators Update RTM build. It is build 15063 according to the leaked Update Assistant. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. This week saw only a handful releases. It was a rather slow week all in all when it comes to app and game releases. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. This week saw the release of several good paid games, and only a handful of apps. Microsoft revealed the new playable advertisement format this week that developers can take advantage of. Check out Wayne's explanation of what playable ads are. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all offers. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-twenty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all offers. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-nineteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all offers. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-eighteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released another Windows 10 Creators Update build this week to the Fast Ring channel. You can read Wayne's summary of the build here. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released two new Insider Builds this week. You can check out Wayne's coverage of Build 15019 and Build 15025 with a click on the build numbers. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-sixteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. It is time to update the original Windows 10 release as Microsoft will stop updating it after March 26. This week saw the release of several blockbuster games, Resident Evil 7, but also interesting apps such as Boardpacks for Windows 10 and Video Editor 10. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fifteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Another week, another Insider Build. Build 15014 introduces an ebook store, and ebook reading capabilities in Microsoft Edge among other things. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-fourteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. This week saw the release of two new Insider Preview builds which introduced several new features and improvements. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-thirteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all deals. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games are… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-eleven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Check out the best Windows 10 apps of 2016 and best Windows 10 games of 2016 listings in case you missed them. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check… [Continue Reading]

Welcome to this special episode of best Windows 10 apps. This article looks back, and lists the best games released for Windows 10 in 2016. I went through all "best of Windows apps" post of the year, cross-referenced the popularity of apps on Windows Store, and read user comments to create this list. Note that this "best of" listing covers games only. You can read the best Windows 10 apps of 2016 listing covering apps and extensions as well if you missed it. I'd like to encourage you to post your best games of the year in the comment section below… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-ten in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Check out the best Windows 10 apps of 2016 listing in case you have missed it, as it highlights great apps for the operating system. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals.… [Continue Reading]

Welcome to this special episode of best Windows apps. This article looks back, and lists the best applications released for Windows 10 in 2016. I went through all "best of Windows apps" post of the year, cross-referenced the popularity of apps on Windows Store, and read user comments to create this list. Note that apps refers to applications and extensions only. An article covering games will be published next week. I'd like to encourage you to post your best apps of the year in the comment section below to improve this post for all readers. Without further ado, lets get… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all deals. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games are… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. The latest Insider Preview of Windows 10 brought along with it three new Edge extensions. Check out Ebates, Intel TrueKey and Read & Write if you run an Insider build of Windows 10. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following list is a selection of the best deals. Make sure you check out the Store for all deals. Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Only new apps and games are… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. As far as Windows 10 news goes, there has been plenty this week. It came to light that Microsoft is sharing Windows 10 Telemetry data with third-parties, and that EMET is still considered a good security option on Windows 10 despite Microsoft claiming otherwise. Good news however, if you are using a 4K monitor and Netflix, as you may use Edge to stream Netflix shows in 4K resolution. As always, if I… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released a new Windows Insider build this week. You can check out what is new here. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Starting this week, only new apps and games are… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Another week, another Windows 10 Insider Preview build. Wayne has you covered this time. There have also been reports about more ads on Windows 10. Check out Mark's article on that. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week Some apps are discounted for more… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft released a new Windows Insider build this week. You can check out what is new here. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Check out last week's Best Windows apps post if you missed it. Discounts this week Some apps are discounted for more… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft has started to remove applications from Windows Store that don't have an age rating. While they should continue to work if you have installed them already on a device, updates and new downloads are not available until the developer or publisher specifies an age rating. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. The Khan Academy app will be pulled from Windows Store in a matter of days. Users who have it installed can continue using it, but it cannot be installed anymore. So, if you are interested in the app, grab it before it is gone. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred-and-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. App of the week is MALClient this time, a sophisticated app to manage your anime or manga collection in various ways. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Check out last week's best of Windows apps post if you missed it. Discounts this week Some… [Continue Reading]

Two-hundred in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days. No app of the week this time but the new Microsoft Edge extension Turn off the Lights almost made it. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Check out last week's best of Windows apps post if you missed it. Discounts this week Some apps are… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. This week saw the release of a first batch of converted win32 applications like Kodi, Tweeten or PhotoScape X Pro in Store. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Check out last week's best of Windows apps post if you missed it. Discounts… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. The Windows 10 Anniversary was released on August 2, but some users may not get it before November. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Check out last week's best of Windows apps post if you missed it. Discounts this week Some apps… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. The week was rather slow in regards to new releases. Microsoft did bring video game pre-orders to the Store however, and seems to have removed thousands of low quality apps recently too. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week Some… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Starting this week, only new apps and games are listed below. Check out the previous post in the series for past offers that may… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Plenty of updates were released this week, but many companies -- including Microsoft -- publish release notes only sporadically if at all. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week Some apps are discounted for more than one week. Starting this… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Several promising apps and games were released this week, such as the Agricoal 2-player game and the Rockband-like game Gu. No app of the week award though this week. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following apps and… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. This week saw quite the flurry of articles about the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Find out how to disable ads and tips, fix update related issues, or slow Internet speed after applying the update. App of the week is Spinster, an interesting media browser for Windows 10 that displays collections -- images or video -- next to each other on the screen. As always, if I missed an app or game… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. The Windows 10 Anniversary Update is out. Check out Wayne's overview of what is new, and this helpful tip to free up disk space after upgrading and making sure everything works as intended. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. The Anniversary Update will be out in a couple of days bringing exciting new features to Windows 10. Unfortunately, for the second time in a row, there is no app of the week. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and ninety in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Lots of updates this week for established apps such as Windows Camera and Uber, but only a few new releases worth mentioning. There is no app of the week unfortunately. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following apps and games… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Major applications like Dropbox or Viber were updated this week with new functionality. There's no application of the week this time though. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following apps and games are discounted by at least 50 percent… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Windows 10's Anniversary Update will be released on August 2, 2016. It features an impressive list of changes that includes Store improvements and support for Microsoft Edge extensions. This week's app of the week is Perfect Workout, a well-designed body-weight exercise application for home. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. VideoLan, maker of the popular VLC Media Player, has released a new version of VLC for Windows Store. It is a universal application that supports features such as Cortana, Continuum or Live Tiles. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Microsoft pushed out a Windows Store update this week that displays a prompt during the installation of large apps and games so you can choose the install location. The feature will be part of this Summer's Anniversary update. This week has been rather slow in terms of new application and game releases. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Microsoft rolled out a Windows Store update for Insider Builds this week that allows you to choose install locations for very large applications and games. App of the week is the new Expedia application for Windows 10. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Duplicate Cleaner has been selected as application of the week. It is a sophisticated duplicate files cleaner for Windows 10 that competes with desktop programs in regards to functionality. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following discounts are provided… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. This week has seen the release of several exciting new applications and games for the Windows platform, as well as updates for existing apps such as Viber, Forza Motosport 6 and Dailymotion. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts this week The following… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. The Ready, Set, Summer sale has started. Brian has all the details for you, but if you are in a hurry, simply click on the following link to check out what is discounted. The sale includes Windows apps and games, movies, and music offers. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Microsoft rolled out a new Store layout and design for beta versions of Windows 10 that it plans to make available to all users with the upcoming Anniversary Update. Click here to read Mark's review of what is new and changed. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and eighty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Starting this week, Microsoft Edge extensions are also included in the weekly series provided that they have a Windows Store listing. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts This Week The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers,… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and seventy-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. More and more full price games are coming to the Windows Store. This week alone saw the release of the long awaited Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, as well as Shadow Complex Remastered, and The Escapists: The Walking Dead. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and seventy-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. This week saw the unveiling of the official Facebook app for Windows 10 (now available to anyone), and Messenger, Facebook's chat and messaging service. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts This Week The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and seventy-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. There has been a good selection of newly released applications and games this week. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead. Discounts This Week The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers, and the Deals Hub application. Here… [Continue Reading]

One-hundred and seventy-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days. Microsoft released an online demo for Windows 10 this week which has been designed to persuade users to upgrade to Windows 10. News broke earlier this week that the major Anniversary Update for Windows 10 will likely be released in July. There's no app of the week award this week unfortunately. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly… [Continue Reading]

The Lego application introduces children age 4 to 7 to Lego. It is part construction game in which you create drivers and vehicles from Lego pieces, and part (basic) racing game, in which you take your newly created ride for a test drive.

You collect Lego pieces while you ride your vehicle and get access to new pieces once you have collected a certain amount. This can be new car parts or new character outfits that you can use in the construction part of the game.

Additionally, you unlock new scenes at the end of each ride that you may encounter during future rides.

It is refreshing that the app comes without in-app purchases or advertisements.

The game downloads quite a bit of data on start without revealing how much. If you check later on, you will find out that its total installation size is more than 2.2 Gigabytes.

It is a tactical free to play game set in the Avengers universe. You control up to three characters, including Captain America, Thor, Black Widow or The Hulk against enemy cannon fodder and bosses.

Combat is turn-based, and some actions cost character specific action points, for instance Rage if you control the Hulk or Ammo if guns are used by a character.

Characters level up as you play the game, and you find items and other stuff as well. The game makes heavy use of free to play mechanics such as energy that replenishes over time (you need energy to play the game), premium currency to buy new heroes and abilities, and more.

Send Anywhere is a cloud-based file transfer service that you can use to send files from one device to another.

Unlike the majority of services out there, it does not require that you create an account first before you can start using the service.

To send files add them using the application. This generates a six digit security key that is valid for 10 minutes or 24 hours. To receive the files, enter the security code using the app and the file download will start immediately thereafter.

Gem Well is a free puzzle game in which you throw coins into a well to gain points. The number of coins you can throw is limited, and you need to get a certain number of points by hitting the right spots in each level to proceed.

Notable updates

The official Dailymotion application got support for video casting in version 6.1.39.0.

Fhotoroom, a popular image editor is out of beta and released as a UWP app.

The official HoloLens application from Microsoft provides you with options to pair your HoloLens device with the app to gain access to features such as starting and stopping applications, capturing "mixed reality" photos and videos, and viewing a live stream from the device's point of view.

The game plays a bit like the classic swashbuckling game Pirates. You start as a captain of a Sloop and work your way up the foot chain by fighting other ships, increasing your fleet, upgrading ship and captain skills, and more.

The game features a story driven campaign, different types of sea battles and -- for a Windows 10 game -- fine visuals.

One-hundred and seventy-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

The Spring Sale is currently underway offering discounts on dozens of popular Windows 10 games, as well as movies and TV shows. You find links to it when you open the Windows Store games and movies & TV categories.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers, and the Deals Hub application.

This is a running game that works with touch or mouse and keyboard. Basically, what you do is use the controls to avoid collisions with oncoming obstacles and vehicles while collecting coins and doing your best to keep on running.

You earn coins while you are running which you can invest in power ups like double jumps or unlocks. Some of the items are only available for real money though in the built-in store.

You find yourself stranded on an island after a plane crash in the adventure game.

Apart from trying to find a way to escape the island, you need to ensure survival by finding enough food, monitoring other values such as stamina or comfort, and making sure the three survivors get along.

Explore the island, solve puzzles and collect items that you require for your survival.

Monster Go looks like another endless runner game on first glance and while it falls into the category, it has more to offer than the usual running game.

First of all, it includes fighting. You use your sword to hit enemies before they hit you, and may use special powers such as shields to avoid taking damage.

You control your character either with the mouse, keyboard or touch.

The second difference is that the developers have added character progression to the game. Your character levels up while you play the game, gets skill points for that which you can invest in new features such as improving the overall health or unlocking new special powers.

You may spend gold that you collect in the built-in shop to improve your weapons, get new accessories or specials.

The third and final difference is that you can select stages while the game progresses.

An evil spell has been cast on the Magic Kingdom taking away all of its magic. It is the player's task to bring back the magic by lifting the curse with the help of popular Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald and Daisy.

The game is not a "city builder" game even though it shares several mechanics such as resource collection and quests with it.

Instead, it is a light adventure game in which you follow leads and complete quests. While you do build attractions such as Mickey's Fun Wheel at times, it is just one part of the game.

Boltstorm is an action game in which you control a knight in an area. Your task in the game is to survive, rescue other knights, and defeat the executioners that come rushing at you in increasing numbers.

Knights you pick up increase your firepower but they decrease your maneuverability at the same time.

Tap Tap Legions is a free to play game in which you summon troops that battle it out with onrushing enemy hordes.

The goal of the game is to beat the enemy troops and destroy their defenses to proceed to the next level.

You earn gold while playing the game, get access to new troops, and can purchase upgrades to make your army more powerful.

A random selection of cards, depicting the available unit types and special effects, are available in battles. Unit cards summon the depicted units to battle, while special effects have positive or negative effects such as bombing the enemy or yourself.

You can summon a limited number of cards per battle stage, and need to do so before time runs out as you won't be able to throw more troops or use special effects afterwards.

The upgrade system allows you to improve specific types of units, for instance by improving their attacks, health or defense, changing the odds that negative effect cards appear in battles, or improve the health of your king.

One of the first games released exclusively on Windows Store for PC. It is a remastered edition of the original Gears of War game that supports 4K resolutions and new content including new campaigns, bonus multiplayer characters and a "deluxe" weapon skin pack.

The game supports gamepads and keyboard controls, and requires a video card that is DirectX 12 compatible.

Notable updates

Music streaming app Deezer has been released as a universal application for Windows 10.

When Windows Store launched, it featured apps and games that had a clear mobile focus. Games made available via Windows Store were casual for the most part, and it seemed unlikely that the situation would change in the future.

It changed however with the launch of the Universal Windows Platform which improved what developers could do with the framework that Microsoft provided them with, and the release of Windows 10.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was the first major AAA title offered through Windows Store but it won't be the last. Microsoft announced plans recently to bring the Xbox One exclusive game Quantum Break, developed by Remedy Software, to Windows Store on launch day. Other games such as Gears of Wars Ultimate Edition and Fable Legends are also lined up to be Store exclusives.

The games will only be available for Microsoft's game console and through Windows Store, and Microsoft will use the same strategy to push Windows Store by making other games it has control over as Store exclusives.

This is beneficial to PC gamers on first glance as they gain access to games that they would not be able to play at all on the platform or only after years of delay.

Windows Platform limitations

But what about games that are available on other PC stores or even retail channels? Are there differences between Universal Platform versions of games and regular desktop versions of said games?

If you compare the Windows Store version of Rise of the Tomb Raider with the Steam version, you will notice that there are huge differences between both versions.

A thread on Reddit was the first to highlight major differences between Windows Store games and regular PC games.

Games run in borderless fullscreen mode

Vsync is always on and cannot be turned off

SLI and Crossfire are not supported

Games cannot be modified

Game overlays are not supported

Incompatible with non-Windows 10 operating systems

Games run in borderless fullscreen mode

Windows Store games cannot run in exclusive fullscreen mode right now.

You may notice that this benefits Alt-Tabbing out of games as the switch to other programs or apps is instant, but it does come with a slight drop in performance usually and it enforces Vsync on top of that.

Vsync is always on and cannot be turned off

The main purpose of Vsync is to prevent screen tearing in games. Both AMD and NVIDIA introduced better methods to avoid screen tearing in games, namely FreeSync and G-Sync.

Unfortunately, neither of these features can be used if Vsync is active. In addition, Vsync may cause input lag and a drop in performance.

SLI and Crossfire are not supported

SLI and Crossfire are techniques to combine two or more video cards to improve the video processing performance on the device.

Windows Store games don't support these right now which means that only one video card will be used to power these games.

Games cannot be modified

Windows Store games don't support modifications, say, better texture packs or software like SweetFX, that improve the visual quality of games.

Game overlays are not supported

Fraps, MSI Afterburner and other screen recording or FPS monitoring applications are not compatible with Windows Store games either at this point in time.

You buy the game once on Steam, and can install it on all supported platforms. Yes, that may include Mac or Linux as well depending on the game.

Benefits of running Windows Store games

The universal platform offers some benefits when it comes to running Windows Store games. They tie in with several Xbox features for instance, achievements, screen recording and friends you may have on your Xbox One system.

The usefulness of most of these features depends largely on how invested you are in Microsoft's Xbox ecosystem.

If you own an Xbox One and have friends on the system, you may like the idea that you can buy a game for your console and get the same version for your Windows PC free of charge.

Games may sync data so that you can continue playing them on either system, and cross-play may also be supported depending on the game.

The screen recording is a universal feature, it works with non-Store apps and games as well as it does with them.

Closing Words

The UWP is at the beginning of its journey, and it may seem a bit unfair to compare it to established platforms like Steam or PC games in general.

The situation may, and probably will, improve in the future when new capabilities and features are added to the platform that games will benefit from.

For now however, you may want to weigh up the benefits and disadvantages against each other before you make a buying decision.

It is fair to say though that the majority of issues described above won't be noticed or affect the majority of PC gamers.

One-hundred and sixty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

This week saw some great releases and application updates. Facebook's official application is available to all users for instance, and updates to Twitter, Hulu or Todoist improved these apps significantly.

The new King game Papa Pear Saga is my app of the week pick. It is a fun game that is not another match-3 type of game but a game that stands on its own.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers, and the Deals Hub application.

The latest King game for Windows 10 is not another Candy Crush Sage clone but a game that stands on its own.

It plays a bit like the Japanese game of Pachinko mixed with Flipper elements.

You shoot pears out of a cannon positioned at the top, and try to bump into as many elements displayed in each level as possible to reach a certain score threshold or other level objectives like bringing down fruit or lighting up the buckets.

Use the mouse, or touch, to control the speed of the projectile as well as its axis. While you may shoot multiple pears in rapid succession, you don't control what happens afterwards to them as that occurs automatically.

One-hundred and sixty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

This week saw some great releases and application updates. Facebook's official application is available to all users for instance, and updates to Twitter, Hulu or Todoist improved these apps significantly.

The new King game Papa Pear Saga is my app of the week pick. It is a fun game that is not another match-3 type of game but a game that stands on its own.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers, and the Deals Hub application.

The latest King game for Windows 10 is not another Candy Crush Sage clone but a game that stands on its own.

It plays a bit like the Japanese game of Pachinko mixed with Flipper elements.

You shoot pears out of a cannon positioned at the top, and try to bump into as many elements displayed in each level as possible to reach a certain score threshold or other level objectives like bringing down fruit or lighting up the buckets.

Use the mouse, or touch, to control the speed of the projectile as well as its axis. While you may shoot multiple pears in rapid succession, you don't control what happens afterwards to them as that occurs automatically.

Microsoft Edge is the default system browser on Windows 10. Microsoft ships the operating system with Internet Explorer as well, and it is easy enough to use either one of the browsers to download Firefox, Chrome, Opera or any of the other browsers available for Windows.

When Windows 10 came out, I was interested in Microsoft Edge for a number of reasons. It is a new browser by Microsoft that did away with old dependencies that held Internet Explorer back. That should make it sleeker, faster and less prone to attacks.

Edge gives that impression on start. It is fast, displays only a few mandatory elements in the interface, and works well on most sites you open using it.

If you dig deeper, or compare it to established browsers, you will notice that it lacks many features that most Internet users would call essential or at least "nice to have".

The following reasons are why I don't use Microsoft Edge more often, let alone as the main system browser.

1. No Extension Support

Microsoft Edge will support browser extensions eventually, but the technology is not there yet. Microsoft promised that extensions are a top priority but nothing has come out of this so far.

Even when extension support is added to Edge on stable builds of Windows 10, it is not the end of it as the usefulness of that feature depends largely on developer support.

If you look back at plugins and add-ons for Internet Explorer, you will come to the conclusion that there were few available for the browser despite its overall usage share.

It certainly had something to do with how add-ons were created for Internet Explorer, and Edge will make that easier according to Microsoft.

Still, after launch, only a handful of extensions will be made available initially.

2. Barely any interface customization options

I'm a spoiled Firefox user who -- still -- has options to modify the browser interface to his liking. I can add or remove elements, and move most around without issues.

Edge, just like Google Chrome, limits this to hiding or displaying the favorites bar. There is no option to move icons around or remove them from the browser, and no advanced customization features that allow you to display tabs in a sidebar, add a status bar to the browser UI, or change colors.

I cannot remove the "make a web note" or "share web note" icons for instance even though I will never use those features.

"What you see is what you get" seems to be the motto right now. The only option provided is to add a home button to the interface.

3. Adding Search Engines is a pain, switching between them too

Microsoft Edge ships with Bing as the default search engine. It may also include other search engines that you can pick one from, but there is no apparent option to add search engines that are not listed on the configuration page to the browser.

The only option provided right now is to use the discovery feature. This works only if the search engine supports OpenSearch. All you need to do in this case is to visit it, run a search, and open the Edge Settings afterwards to change the default search engine to the newly discovered one.

Select the three dots at the top, and then Settings from the context menu that opens.

Scroll down and select "view advanced settings".

Find "search in the address bar with" and click on the change button.

Select a search engine from the list, and click on "set as default" to make it the new default search engine in Microsoft Edge.

An easy option to switch between search engines is missing as well.

4. The Missing Address Bar

When you open a new Tab Page in Microsoft Edge, the address bar is removed from the browser UI and all you get is a "Where to next" field on the page which acts as a combined search field and address bar.

This is inconsistent and in my opinion a decision that leads to bad usability. A browser should not modify the core UI ever, and the address bar is probably the most important element a web browser has to offer.

The address bar appears if you scroll down on the new tab page, and if you do, you cannot scroll up anymore to display the in-page "where to next" field instead.

5. The "fly-out" Settings

If you select Settings from the main menu at the top, you will notice that Settings are displayed as a fly-out menu in Microsoft Edge.

The main issue here is that the Settings don't use the available browser window which means that there is lots of scrolling involved to go through them and that it is not as easy to get an overview of what is available.

You can click on the pin icon to display the Settings permanently on the screen, but that takes away space from websites that you open in the browser.

6. Not displaying protocols in the address bar is bad

Microsoft Edge does not display the protocol used to connect to the active site. The only indicator it gives that you are connected to a secure site (https) is the lock icon in front of the address.

You can click in the address bar field to display the full url, but that is impracticable for a number of reasons.

In addition, the secure icon should use color indicators (green and red) as this is how all other browsers handle these visualizations.

7. Favorites and History management use fly-out menus too, no search

If you manage a lot of favorites, or need to browse the history, you will notice that Edge displays these in a fly-out menu as well.

The menu has the same issues as the Settings one, namely that its width is limited and that there is no option to display the data on a page using the full width of the browser window.

The display lists only a handful of links before you need to start scrolling, and there is no search available to quickly find what you are looking for.

There is also no option to sort the favorites quickly, for instance by recency or number of visits.

8. No tab history

While you can right-click on any tab open in the browser to reopen closed tabs, there is no option to quickly go through a list of closed tabs to open the one you are looking for, or to display all sites that were loaded in the tab previously.

Chrome and Firefox users can right-click on the back or forward icons to display previously visited sites which makes it easier to open these again.

9. No user profiles

I use multiple user profiles in Firefox for different tasks. One for work, one for regular web browsing, one for testing, and another for secure activities such as online banking.

These profiles are configured differently depending on the activity, they use different extensions, and they help me separate work from other activities.

Microsoft Edge does not support user profiles currently which means that you are stuck with a single profile for all activity.

10. Right-click search with default search engine, not Bing

When you select text in Microsoft Edge and right-click, you get an option to search using the Bing search engine.

This option is hardcoded in the browser, and does not change even if you change the default search engine of Microsoft Edge.

Bing Lookup should change to whatever search engine you have selected as the default one.

One-hundred and sixty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

Microsoft revealed information about the highly anticipated game Quantum Break this week. Initially thought to be an Xbox One exclusive, the company announced that it will also be made available for Windows 10 on the same day.

No application of the week award this time though.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers, and the Deals Hub application.

The following is this week's selection. The Toca apps are only discounted for one day, while everything else is discounted for the whole week.

The Sequence is a puzzle game in which you use modules to transfer binary cells.

What you do in each of the 72 levels is drag and drop modules on the board in order to move cells from start to finish. You run your setup whenever you want to test it, and modify it based on what goes wrong.

Notable updates

Fhotoroom was completely rewritten. New features include support for 650 RAW formats, full metadata support, Continuum support and performance improvements.

Newsflow has a new extended readability mode which improves the readability of downloaded articles in the app. In addition, you may disable the loading of images.

King's Guard TD is a well-designed, medieval-themed Tower Defense game for Windows 10 that offers tons of towers, enemies and levels.

You can play through three different games, and place various towers in each of them to defeat the onrushing hordes of enemies.

Different types of towers are effective against certain types of enemies, and you will have to pay close attention to the foes, tower types at your disposal, placement options on the map and upgrades to successfully beat a level.

Defend your backyard using an arsenal of weapons against the attacks of robots.

You start as Frank, the slingshot king, but can unlock other characters and skill upgrades as the game progresses.

The game itself sees robots rushing towards a fence you are positioned at, and it is your task to shoot nuts at them to destroy them before they reach it.

Notable updates

The official Dailymotion application received a massive update. It is a universal application now, featuring a new design, Cortana voice search integration, picture-in-picture mode, video casting and drag and drop uploads using the application.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is one of the first major game releases for the Windows platform.

The game takes the Tomb Raider franchise back to its beginning as it narrates how it all started and how Lara Croft started to become the "Tomb Raider".

The game features impressive visuals, an interesting story line, and a new hub zone feature that enables you to explore the game world and discover secrets at your own pace and without progressing the main story line.

Skill trees are being used in Rise of the Tomb Raider to give players customization options. Spend points in hunting, brawling or survival to get better at certain things or gain additional skills such as better looting skills.

The game is well designed all in all and should run well if the machine meets the recommendations.

The application has been designed specifically for English and Scottish soccer fans. It only covers the English and Scottish league and there only the major leagues. The developer plans to expand the scope however by adding more leagues to the app.

The app features a lot, league tables, news for a club that you select, information about your club's fixtures and results, live tiles for up to two clubs, tweet following, an app theme that matches the selected theme, and curated web links for fans.

LaunchPal enables you to follow all upcoming space launches and events. It keeps track of the next planned launch, provides information about launches detailing what is being shot into space and why, and a countdown timer to make sure you don't miss the event.

Last but not least, you may get links pointing to video covering the launch.

This is an unofficial WhatsApp client for the Windows platform. At its core, it is a wrapper for the web version of WhatsApp. It has a couple of limitations though, including that it needs to be running in the background for notifications to be received

Important Updates

The recent update for the official Uber client for the Windows platform brought significant improvements to the apps stability with it.

The official application for the cloud file hosting and synchronization service Dropbox has been updated for Windows 10 boasting better performance, faster launching, quick search and interactive device notifications.

Foxit MobilePDF, the app version of the popular PDF reader, has been turned into a universal application supporting Windows 10 and Windows Mobile.

Perfect Tube, a popular YouTube client, supports 60fps video among other improvements.

Twitter client Aries got an update recently adding a truckload of changes and improvements including video upload capabilities, performance improvements, reworked auto-suggest system for users and hashtags, and nearby tweets as a new pinnable section and on the discover page.

The UK's second largest tabloid comes to Windows. The app features 15 different channels including sport, US Home or Femail, supports an offline mode that lets you preload stories and galleries, and an option to pick a preference (US, UK or rest) which determines the news displayed to you.

Users can rate and comment on articles, and a read later feature provides you with options to save articles so that you can access them at a later point in time.

The layout of the app takes some getting used to time as it looks rather messy. The columns that all scroll independently don't help either in this regard.

The translator application supports text and image input. Simply enter text if you select the former that you want translated, or select a local image (or use the camera to take a new one) that contains text instead.

The application uses OCR to identify the text on the image and translates it to the selected language afterwards.

One-hundred and sixty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

New additions have found their way to the Windows Store in surprising number in the last week.

App of the week is Series Tracker, a professionally looking TV show tracking, management and discovery application for the Windows platform.

Other applications and games of note are Two Dots, an interesting puzzle game, and Dynamic Theme, an app that provides you with the means to configure dynamic wallpapers for the desktop background and lockscreen.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

Red Stripe Deals are back. Up to six applications and games are discounted and highlighted in Windows Store each week.

The app for TV junkies. Keep track of your favorite TV shows, discover what is hot and upcoming, or browse shows by using the search or finding shows specific actors played a role in.

The option to look-up actors to find out which shows they stared in is without doubt one of the coolest features of the application, as it provides you with a different angle when it comes to TV show discovery.

The app taps into IMDB and Trakt, and supports features such as a watchlist that keeps track of your shows, lists of recent or missed episodes, and upcoming shows.

Two Dots is a unique puzzle game in which you need to connect two or more dots of the same color.

Each level of the game tasks you with goals that you are required to reach to proceed to the next level in line. This usually involves connecting a certain number of colored dots, for instance 50 green, red and blue dots.

You connect adjacent dots by drawing lines, and all dots that you have connected in this way are removed from the level in the process.

New dots are dropped from the top into the level when this happens. You may create special connections, squares or rectangular ones which offer more points and special effects.

Tetris with a twist, that was my first impression when I started to play the game's first level.

The game keeps Tetris's main objective of clearing lines by filling them with objects dropped from the top, but mixes it up with an interesting sliding mechanic that allows you to move pieces already dropped to different positions

Notable updates

Audiobooked for Windows 10 Beta is now available. It is an audiobook application to manage and play audiobooks.

Eurosports.com is a universal app now supporting Cortana on top of it.

Gods of Rome is a fighting game that features great looking graphics and gameplay that resembles that of classic arcade style fighting games such as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or Dead or Alive.

While called Gods of Rome, it features gods from other ancient pantheons, for instance Zeus or Athena.

Summon and upgrade gods, monsters and heroes that you can play as, and fight gods and mythical creatures in single-player missions or by participating in PVP events to beat other human players of the game.

The fighting is basic when you compare it to classic arcade fighting games as you have three types of attacks, one special attack and one block at your disposal.

While that may sound like much, it is not really that much considering that you usually win by smashing on those buttons as fast as you can, at least in the earlier levels and against computer opponents.

That does not mean that the game is bad or anything, but it is simpler. This may appeal to some however who don't want to learn 99 different combos using 12 or so buttons and movement.

An unofficial port of ScummVM which allows you to run classic adventure games if you have the data files already.

It supports the majority of LucasArts adventure such as Monkey Island, Indiana Jones or Day of the Tentacle, but also third-party adventure games from other studios. The version is based on the latest development build.

You need a miCoach Smart Ball from Adidas to use the application. It has been designed to improve your control and manipulation of footballs by providing you with instant feedback that includes information such as power, spin, strike or trajectory.

In addition to that, it offers tips and guidance to improve your skills further.

A new version of the popular Tower Defense game franchise in which you play against the computer or human opponents for the first time.

It works similar to previous games of the series, but instead of trying to beat levels on your own, you have to take your opponent into account now as he or she may send extra balloons your way using gold.

World of Tanks Blitz is the little brother of the popular tank combat game World of Tanks. It shares many similarities with its bigger sibling: a massive arsenal of tanks to choose from, tank upgrades, different nations and fast team-based action.

It is an action game at its core, a tank-shooter if you will. The Blitz signifies that as well, as you fight on smaller maps against up to seven enemy tanks.

Tank selection is limited and the tech tree is smaller as well. That does not make it a bad or inferior game though, as it offers the advantage that you can jump into battles quickly and are done as quick most of the time as well.

Graphics are well done, and while the free to play game offers the usual grind or pay mechanics to get better equipment, I never felt bored trying to gain enough experience and currency to buy the next upgrade to make my tank just a little bit better.

There are only two objectives in a battle: either conquer a central location on the map by occupying it for a set amount of time, or defeat all enemy players by destroying their tanks.

The application lets you send flowers, plants and gifts directly from within it without needing to visit the parent site. It may sync with your phone contacts automatically if you let it, and supports seamless checkouts to make things even easier.

Garmin Connect Mobile requires one of Garmin's fitness devices. It enables you to upload data from the device directly to Garmin Connect, send courses and workouts to the hardware, and let others follow your activities using the Live Track feature.

One-hundred and fifty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

A solid selection of apps and games has been released this week for Windows.

Game of the week is Sniper Fury, a great looking shooting game.

Other notable additions to the Windows Store are 3D Scan, a 3D scanner that uses Kinect, Hero Panda, a great looking Bomberman clone, and Action Note, a note taking application that integrates with the Action Center.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

Red Stripe Deals are back. Up to six applications and games are discounted and highlighted in Windows Store each week.

Sniper Fury is a shooting game in which you play an elite soldier. Play and unlock missions, better weapons, or raid the bases of other players of the game to steal their gold.

The game is held back somewhat by its free to play mechanics, mainly that you spend energy for each mission or action you take in the game.

Energy replenishes every four minutes to a maximum of ten which prevents you from playing the game non-stop unless you use premium currency to fill up the energy level right away.

You use an automatic rifle or a sniper rifle during missions with objectives ranging from identifying and terminating an enemy operative to shooting down drones or preventing attacks on buildings or innocent bystanders.

It is a fun, but ultimately basic game which may appeal to casual gamers more than it does to hardcore gamers.

The application ties-in with the Forza game franchise on Microsoft's Xbox console. Get free credits or cars each month, check your overall progress or compare your performance to those of your friends.

It features editorial content, information about new cars, as well as racing news.

Bloons Monkey City takes the popular tower defense series to the next level by adding city building to the mix.

Basically, it is half city management and half tower defense game. Instead of unlocking new towers or upgrades while playing the game, you do so by building new structures and researching items in the city management part of the game.

The tower defense part comes into play when you expand your city, as you need to conquer tiles to do that. Each tile you want to add to your city needs to be captured by completing a tower defense mission first.

You may connect with friends and help each other out, and compete against other players in weekly events.

Dragon Friends: Green Witch is a city/empire building game set in a fantasy land that is full of magic.

Apart from expanding your empire, you are also tasked with breeding dragons in the game and evolving them to powerful magical creatures.

The game features different types of dragons that you can breed, a quest system that tells you what to do next, and social features such as helping friends out by allowing them to breed dragons faster.

One-hundred and fifty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

No application of the week award this time unfortunately. Some good apps and games were released this week nevertheless. Check out Monster Buster: World Invasion, or Board Defender if you like strategy and puzzle games, or 22Tracks, Moodflow or Cast for some unique music apps and a great podcast manager.

Microsoft's 10 days of 10 cent deals is still running and the offers are really good, so check it out if you have not already.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The promotion 10 days of $0.10 deals is in full swing bringing you loads of apps, games, music and videos for $0.10 each. It would take too long to list them all, but here is a short selection of discounted Windows apps and games that are available today (offers change daily).

Halo Spartan Strike

Hitman Go

Package Tracker

Reading Trainer

CV Resume Builder

The selection of discounted music and movies is excellent as well. You can grab San Andreas, Marvel's The Avengers: The Age of Ultron or Mad Max Fury Road for $0.10 on the movie side for instance.

Board Defenders mixes elements of Chess with Tower Defense like features. The game plays on a Chess board but instead of having 16 pieces at your disposal, you only use a selection like the Queen or Rooks.

Your task in the game is to prevent your opponent's pawns from reaching the other end of the game board, and you do that by capturing all pawns before they reach that destination.

In addition, you need to pay attention to your own pieces as it is game over if a pawn manages to capture one of yours.

Board Defenders is a logic puzzle game as you will always have the same number of pieces at your disposal and pawns will always spawn at the same location.

Dark Note is a free note taking application for Windows. Add as many notes as you want to the app, select different fonts, colors and other customization options, and pin notes to the Windows Start Menu for direct reminders.

Notes can be shared and synchronized using OneDrive. Dark Note is not a new app, but it is quite popular and has not been mentioned here before.

Take control of monsters in this fighting game and pit them against other monsters. Collect defeated monsters, each with unique stats and abilities, and gain experience to grow your monsters and compete against tougher opponents.

You start with a single monster and are thrown into your first fight right away. Each monster has access to three attacks that differ in availability, power and effects they may bring with them.

Some attacks may add a poison effect for instance, while others may improve your monster's defense temporarily or reduce the attacking power of the enemy.

A dexterity element is added to your attacks. Basically, it requires that you click at the right time to perform a perfect attack. The further away you are from that perfect moment, the less effective the attack will be.

One-hundred and fifty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

Microsoft's 10 days of $0.10 apps promotion on Windows Store lets you to snag apps, games, movies and music for $0.10 each (movies are rental only). Offers change each day. This is a great promotion by Microsoft.

Baconit, a client for Reddit, is the app of the week. It has been rewritten for Windows 10 and it shows: it is fast, responsive, adjusts to any screen size automatically and features almost everything that you can do on Reddit.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The promotion 10 days of $0.10 deals is in full swing bringing you loads of apps, games, music and videos for $0.10 each. It would take too long to list them all, but here is a short selection of discounted Windows apps and games that are available today (offers change daily).

The highly rated Reddit client is now also available for Windows 10. It has been rewritten from the ground up to take advantage of new capabilities of Windows 10.

The client is very fast, adjust its layout automatically to its window size, and enables you to do most of the things you'd do on Reddit including signing in to your account, commenting on stories, voting on submissions, subscribing to forums and more.

All submissions open in the app directly including links to web pages, videos and images.

The app has a NSFW filter that blocks posts marked as such from being displayed right away.

The search works extremely well and highlights subreddits, users and individual submissions.

The new Box application for Windows 10 is now available in Store. It replaces the old Box for Windows 8 application and is universal.

The app enables you to display files and folders of your Box account, share files, view popular file types such as Excel or PDF documents directly in the app, and create or edit Microsoft Office files from within the Box application.

A couple of things are missing however: there is no drag and drop support yet, no option to delete folders, and no option to add files without a folder.

A simple application that generates hash values for files you select. It generates MD5, SHA1 and SHA256 hashes automatically for the selected file, and ships with an option to check a previously generated hash against the values.

This can be useful to make sure a file is not corrupt or has been tampered with.

The official DeviantArt application for Windows is a web wrapper. What this means is that it is identical to the website.

While that is discouraging as you can easily open the website in a browser of choice for nearly the same experience, some users may prefer to use the app to take advantage of app-only features such as fast accessing it from the start menu.

While that is theoretically also possible for any website, the process of doing so is not as easy to carry out.

Notable Updates

StaffPad, the music notation application has been fully redesigned for Windows 10. The massive list of features added in the version include a new voice activated composer assistant, new musical symbols, per-page scrolling on playback, or partial bar selection.

The media player K-Lite is now available for all Windows 10 users. The popular file management application Files&Folders is also available for Windows 10 now.

One-hundred and fifty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x/10 in the past seven days.

This week saw a surprisingly large number of applications and only a handful of games worth mentioning. If you followed the Best Windows Apps of the Week series you know that this is not often the case as games tend to dominate the Windows Store.

Disney Infinity 3.0 is without doubt one of the largest applications yet in Windows Store -- it's nearly 30 GB in size. It is my app of the week but if you are not interested in games, you may find applications like BBC Store, Sygic GPS Navigation, or mTalk more to your taste.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

Red Stripe Deals are back. Microsoft added them to the new Windows 10 Store. You find them listed under Collections when you open the store.

Probably the largest game yet on Windows Store with a size of nearly 30 GB.

Disney Infinity is a sandbox video game that combines physical toys with story-driven game play in the Disney universe.

The game features so-called play sets which are pre-created campaigns based on popular Disney brands such as Star Wars, The Incredibles or Pirates of the Caribbean, and a Toy Box mode which enables you to create your own game by using characters, weapons, gadgets and other items that are available to you.

Disney Infinity 3.0 adds the Star Wars universe to the game allowing you to play several play sets based on Star Wars and create your own Star Wars adventures in Toy Box mode.

BBC Store brings a large digital collection of BBC shows to buy that include popular shows as well as classic titles from the archives.

You need a BBC Store account to sign in to the application and use it. Shows can be streamed or downloaded after purchase, and features like parental controls and Cortana support on Windows 10 make it a great experience.

Combine Halloween-themed items in this match-3 game. It features 200 challenging puzzle levels and six game modes to keep you entertained.

Apart from reaching a target score, you are asked to crush all pumpkins in a level, to collect jellies, or help ghosts find peace.

The mechanics are identical to other match-3 type of games. Combine Halloween items by swapping positions of two items on the map to match at least three identical items which are then removed from it.

MapFactor Navigator is a free GPS navigation application for Windows that uses OpenStreetMaps data by default.

Maps are downloaded to the local system which means that an Internet connection is not required to use the app for navigation after the initial download of the map data.

It is optionally possible to download TomTom GPS navigation maps as part of a paid upgrade. Doing so adds additional information such as lane warnings, motorway signs or truck restrictions to the maps.

Shazaam has been rebuild for Windows 10. It features Cortana support, a new song page offering lyrics, videos and recommendations, a news feed based on artists that you have discovered using the application, a new lyrics play mode to sing along, and improved accuracy when detecting songs.

This is a new spin on the popular board game Trivial Pursuit. While you are still answering questions to beat your opponents, you are not moving across a board anymore but answering sets of three questions directly.

There is a time limit for answering questions and lots of social features like playing against your friends on Facebook or on the system you are using.

The game supports premium currency which you can use to spin again to pick another category or to get help answering questions.

Good news is, you don't need to connect the app to Facebook if you don't want to.

You manage your kingdom in the game by completing quests, building new structures, taking care of the population and exploring the surrounding areas.

There is only so much you can do at any given point in time as you are limited by the number of workers and resources that you have at your disposal.

The game is free to play and it shows in several regards. First, it takes time to build structures and complete other tasks in the game. Second, it displays offers throughout the game to purchase diamonds, the premium currency in the game, and third, it will bombard you with requests to connect to Facebook and share your progress on the site once you have done that.

The game looks like another Arkanoid or Breakout clone on first glance. While it shares similarities with those games, mainly that you need to clear all bricks from the board, how you do it is completely different.

You fire colored balls from the bottom of the screen that will remove same-colored bricks. There are also power bricks that have an extra effect when you hit them such as exploding and taking adjacent bricks with them.

The free versions of these apps -- the paid editions do away with advertisements -- offer access to thousands of cartoon and Anime in HD quality.

To name a few shows that the app offers: on the cartoon side, you get The Simpsons, Family Guy, SpongeBob or Sesame Street, while you find One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Naruto Shippuuden or Sword Art Online featured in the Anime application.

Quality-wise, both apps let you choose between 360p and 720p. Please note that most Anime come with subtitles and/or dubs.

Notable updates

The Tinder client Timber was updated and is now optimized for Windows 10. It features a redesigned UI, dark theme option, better performance and improved background notifications among other things.

The Weather Channel application was updated for Windows 10 introducing new weather alerts and an interactive map feature.

Candy Crush Soda Saga is at its core still a match-3 type of game but it introduces several new game elements to the game type that may make it interesting for Candy Crush lovers.

The game features plenty of new game modes. Soda for instance has you match bottles of Soda with candy to increase the Soda level of the map while Frosting search for and free candy bears trapped under frosted plates.

Along with those new game modes come fundamental game changes. In Soda mode, new candy may enter from the bottom instead of the top and there are scrolling levels now and levels that span over multiple maps.

Apart from that, you get new match bonuses for candy including matching four candy in a square or matching seven candy, and a new candy that gives you instant effects when matched.

Candy Crush Soda Saga manages to introduce new game modes without changing the core that made Candy Crush Saga a smash hit when it first came out.

If you like match-3 type of games, you will surely love this one as well.

Order & Chaos 2 is a story driven action MMORPG in which starts with a massive battle scene acting as a tutorial.

You are then taken to the character creation screen where you create your first character out of five races and classes.

Once that is out of the way, the real adventure begins. As is the case in all of these games, you start on level 1 and work your way up the food chain to learn new skills and become the strongest hero the world has ever seen.

Take on and complete quests to level up and gain access to advanced skills, spells, weapons and equipment.

The game features enough content for solo play but shines when it comes to group play.

It features PVP options and PVE dungeons, trading, crafting, and a lot more that you find in full price games such as World of Warcraft.

It is free to play which means that you may encounter restrictions built-into the game at one point or another.

The free version provides you with two character slots only for instance or a limited bag.

The free wallpaper changer taps into Bing's vast archive of wallpaper images. It displays the latest images on start and provides you with options set these images as the start, desktop and lockscreen background of the system.

The app can rotate wallpapers automatically, supports the creation of collections, and can display the same or different wallpapers on lock and start screen.

Sky Cue Club is a 3D pool game that features several game types including 8 and 9 Ball Pool and Snooker.

The game ships with a single player mode to practice trick shoots and complete challenges, a mode in which you play against the computer, and a hot seat mode to play against a friend on the same device.

The game is free to play but you can buy upgrades in the built-in store to remove advertisements, unlock premium content or additional computer difficulty levels.

One-hundred and forty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x/10 in the past seven days.

This week saw the release of the official Yahoo Mail client for Windows 10, as well as the release of other great applications such as the Stack Overflow app Heep, and the beta of Microsoft Translator for Windows 10.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

Red Stripe Deals are back. Microsoft added them to the new Windows 10 Store. You find them listed under Collections when you open the store.

Yahoo released the official Yahoo Mail application for Windows 10 this week.

It is a beautifully designed application that displays the inbox after you sign-in to an existing account or create a new account using the app.

The app itself supports all major features of Yahoo Mail and then some more that are unique to Windows 10.

It supports a live tile for instance that displays recent emails in the Start Menu, and both desktop and lock screen notifications as well.

Other features of interest include a tab-driven interface so that you can open compose, inbox and other screens in the same browser window, support for more than 20 different themes, and integration of Yahoo Mail Stationary.

NFL on Windows is a game day companion application that enables you to track teams and players, and receive personalized notifications that inform you about highlights and big plays as they happen.

Another interesting feature of NFL on Windows is Next Gen Replay. It provides you with detailed information about plays, not only as recordings for you to watch but also as tactical information displayed on the screen as they happen.

The replay feature supports three different camera angles, statistics, and options to break down plays using the built-in slow-motion feature.

There is also videos that you can watch, and since these videos don't appear to be geo-locked, you may watch them from everywhere right now.

NFL's official fantasy league is integrated into the app as well. If you sign in to your account you may track your fantasy matches using the application.

Twitter -- The official Twitter app for Windows was updated this week introducing new features such as groups for direct messaging, multi-account support, options to subscribe to lists and other improvements.

One-hundred and forty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x/10 in the past seven days.

Application of the week is the excellent Lara Croft Go game. If you prefer "real" apps, you may want to take a closer look at Duolingo, a language learning application which was finally released for Windows.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

Red Stripe Deals are back. Microsoft added them to the new Windows 10 Store. You find them listed under Collections when you open the store.

Instabullet is an unofficial PushBullet app for Windows which supports all features of the official PushBullet client.

It supports push notifications, can be used to add, edit or delete devices, contacts, subscriptions and pushes, to search for and subscribe to channels, and to send pushes to all supported destination types.

Important updates

Perfect Workout is available for Windows 10 now. The popular fitness application features exercises, progress tracking and more.

Pin More ($2.99) has been updated for Windows 10. It enables you to pin custom tiles, for instance for Stream, Origin or uPlay, but also documents, folders or websites, to the Windows 10 Start Menu.

Binary Engima is a challenging puzzle game in which you need to fill each tile with 0 or 1 following simple rules:

Each row needs to be unique and have the same number of zeros and ones.

No more than two zeros or ones can be next to each other either vertically or horizontally.

All levels can be solved following these basic rules. The free trial version features 75 levels and access to the daily challenge while the paid version unlocks harder levels and beat the developer options to challenge friends.

The Darksong Chronicles is a classic role playing game with turn-based combat mechanics.

It reminds me a lot of RPGs of the 16-bit era thanks to its isometric view and overall look and feel.

Your party of four explores the world, fights monsters and villains in turn-based battles, finds treasures, equips powerful weapons and learns new spells.

One issue that you may run into is that you cannot double-click on people you want to interact with if they are not adjacent. This is a problem at the inn and the main shop where you buy magic and other supplies.

You need to tap on the F-key on the keyboard while facing people to interact with them.

The game is well designed and if you like classic roleplaying games you should take it for a spin.

Crafty File Viewer is a free system application for Windows 10 that lets you peek inside files without opening them directly.

When you load a file in the application, detailed information about it is displayed in the interface. This includes general information, like the file's name, type and size, but also checksums and either a hex dump or a preview if it is a media file.

Crafty File Viewer supports archives and can extract those, but does not display a list of files included in archives or options to extract individual files only.

Alien Hive takes the match-3 puzzle game concept and moves it to the next level. Instead of swapping adjacent items automatically, you may only move items in a row or column if space permits it.

Items of three or more are joined automatically once they are adjacent to each other. They are not removed from the board though but evolve instead so that the item count in each level increases constantly.

The app provides live streaming of CTV and CTV Two's television feed. The app restricts access of the actual feed to Canada and will throw up an error message when you try to access it from another region.

Apart from Live TV, you may also watch on-demand content instead, such as shows that you missed.

The developers describe this as a mix of the classic games Lemmings and Tetris. It is a puzzle game at its core in which you manipulate the environment using Tetris-like blocks to guide mice from the start to the exit.

Your mice encounter dangers along the way and if you don't help them,by covering pools of water with blocks for instance, you will notice that they behave just like Lemmings and don't learn from the mistakes that other mice make.

You have an arsenal of powers at your disposal that help you out, such as bombs that clear paths, or jelly bricks that soften falls.

I missed Candy Crush Saga last week, and while it is an old game that has been around for years, it is still a very popular game and the first release for Windows.

It is a match-3 type of game in which you need to complete tasks in a level to continue to the next. Basic tasks include matching a certain score, dropping special items to the ground or clearing jelly.

The game has been designed with monetization in mind. The five lives you start with replenish after a while, but the level barriers that the developers built-into the game can only be passed with in-game currency or by asking friends or strangers to help you out.

Apart from that, you get a well-designed game that fans of the genre will love.

Doom and Destiny Advanced is a classic 16-bit style roleplaying game. The advanced version improves the free version in multiple ways and the developers call it the sequel, prequel and reboot of Doom and Destiny.

It features turn-based combat, a huge world to explore, lots of story, cross-platform multiplayer and lots more.

If you like classic roleplaying games, you will love Doom and Destiny Advanced.

Jellyflug Micro Adventures is a classic jump and run game at its core. It plays in a microworld full of bacteria and while it is unclear what you play in the game, it is lots of fun.

The game is divided into 45 different levels and tasks which usually ask you to collect a certain number of "things".

Controls are easy to understand. You move the character using the keyboard, a gamepad or touch, shoot bacteria at enemies, or use the jump button to evade them to climb in the game.

Important Updates

Audiobooks from Audible - The Audible application was completely redesigned for Windows 10. It features a new and improved player and library management, and ships with ribbon player for easier controlling of playback.

USA Today - The interface of the official USA Today application was redesigned completely for Windows 10.

One-hundred and thirty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

More than 14 million devices are running Windows 10 after the first day of release. We have covered the launch of the new operating system here on Betanews extensively and if you missed it, check out our Windows 10 topic to read up on that.

Only games made it on the best of list this week with the exception of two applications that were updated (Twitter and Hyper for YouTube).

The Windows 10 Edition of Minecraft received the best app of the week award. Not only is it a faithful adaption of the game, it is also free for existing Minecraft players and runs better on old hardware than the Java version.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

Red Stripe Deals are back. Microsoft added them to the new store of Windows 10.

The Windows 10 edition of Minecraft should not be confused with the standalone Java version of the game which runs on Windows 10 as well.

The version should run better on low-end systems since it does not rely on Java.

The Windows 10 version of the game is a faithful adaption of the classic sandbox game. While it lacks a couple of features of the original game, such as options to scale the UI or Mod support, it is a well designed conversion.

You are thrown right into the game without tutorial or any other information on what you need to do.

Core game mechanics are collecting resources and crafting. You may for instance use wood to create stick and add a coal block to it to create a torch which comes handy at night.

If you have purchased Minecraft already, you get the Windows 10 edition for free.

Bomber Mage is a slow-playing Bomberman clone for Windows. Your task in the game is to drop bombs to kill all ghosts in the level before you can proceed to the next.

In addition to that, you need to find the level exit which is underneath a brick wall which you need to destroy with a bomb as well.

Updates

Several popular applications were updated this week:

Hyper for YouTube -- Probably the most popular YouTube application for Windows 10. The new version features a brand new design

Twitter -- The new universal application features live tiles, multiple photo tweets, support for animated GIFs, Vine playback, and tweets with media contents. In addition, you may share photos privately via direct messaging.

One-hundred and thirty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft's promotion for Windows 10 is in full swing currently. The new operating system launches on July 29, officially, and will find its way on to millions of end user systems thanks to Microsoft promoting it via Windows Update.

This week saw only a couple of interesting app and game releases (mostly games).

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The new Windows 10 Store does not list Red Stripe Deals yet, therefore no deals listings until this changes.

Earth 3D is an interactive 3D globe offering political and physical maps.

It features more than 1700 geographical objects such as cities, places and structures, that you can rotate and zoom using mouse and keyboard, or touch.

The app supports different view modes you can switch between. Natural View for instance displays weather information when you activate it, while the paid add-ons Animal World and Sky Map add other view modes to it.

One interesting feature of the app is that you get detailed descriptions of items you click on. The information appears to be taken exclusively from Wikipedia.

One-hundred and thirty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft released Windows 10 Build 10240 this week which is the RTM version of the operating system that will be released in less than two weeks to the public. The company plans launch celebrations even though there won't be many devices available on launch day that have the new operating system installed.

This week saw the release of several very good applications including the impressive Siegefall game, Video 360, and My Twitch.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The new Windows 10 Store does not list Red Stripe Deals yet Therefore, no deals listing until this changes.

Siegefall is a real-time strategy game in which you control heroes, troops and mighty spells to attack enemy castles and fortifications.

On top of that, you are building your own castle that you need to defend against attackers by adding walls, towers and buildings to it.

The game has a lot to offer. Recruit special troops and units, use dragons and mighty spells in battle to take out enemies and their fortifications, and expand your kingdom to get the economy running and recruit mightier troops and heroes.

Graphics and visuals are stunning and while battles don't give you full movement control over heroes or units, you will have lots of fun bashing and destroying enemy fortifications and conquering them.

One-hundred and thirty-sixth in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft pushed out three builds of the Windows 10 operating system to Fast Ring systems this week (the latest is 10162) and will pick a suitable RTM soon for the operating system.

This week's updates seem to have broken access to the classic Store which means that users on the most recent versions of Windows 10 may not have access to Red Stripe Deals currently as they are not listed yet in the new store interface.

It is been a slow week in terms of releases for the platform which is why no app received the best app of the week award.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

The color book has been designed specifically for toddlers, pre-school children.

It ships with a solid selection of free themes and pages, and several add-ons that can be bought from within the application.

Plain colors and patterns are made available by the application on its pages. These can be selected with the mouse or touch easily, and to make things easier for young children, borders are recognized automatically so that the color is not pushed over those.

One-hundred and thirty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

The week has been filled with confusion as to who is getting a free copy of Windows 10 when it gets released. If you are still not sure if you are eligible, try Wayne's article as he sheds light on the current situation.

This week saw the release of several high profile apps and games including the new Disney game Dodo Pop, app of the week Epic Incursion, and two Autodesk applications to create 3D objects.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

Bricks Breaker -- Friends is Arkanoid or Breakout on steroids. While the main game concept of reflecting balls with a paddle to hit bricks has not changed, it adds a lot to it including a massive amount of bonus items and extras that rain down on you while you are playing the game.

The developers have added a skill and character system to the game. You may pick skills and boosters before you start, buy and switch between characters, or hatch new pets that help you along the way.

Coins that you earn while playing the game are required for some and premium currency for others.

123D Catch turns photos that you take from objects into 3D objects. To use it, you need to capture a series of photos from different angles. The app guides you through the process using its integrated photo compass so that you capture the object from all angles.

Captures made can be opened within Meshmixer and exported to other formats for use in other 3D tools.

123D Sculpt+ on the other hand is a digital sculpting software designed for beginners who are interested in 3D digital sculpting.

One interesting feature of the app is that you can turn any object that you have created into a real physical object delivered to your door.

In addition, you may export sculptures to various formats for use in programs such as Maya or 3ds Max.

One-hundred and thirty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft continues to work on Windows 10 despite the operating system's pressing July release date. The latest Insider Builds improve functionality for developers by making it easier to sideload apps.

This week saw the release of several high profile apps and games including the excellent YouTube client myTube, the unofficial game Super Mario Touch, and this week's game of the week Inside Out Thought Bubbles by Disney.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

Disney's latest game for the Windows platform is a Puzzle Bobble (Bust-a-Move) clone with an Inside Out theme attached to it.

Game mechanics are identical to the classic game as you try to clear memories (bubbles) attached to the ceiling by shooting bubbles of the same color at them. Once three or more bubbles of the same color match they are removed from the level.

Simply shoot the current (or next) ball from the bottom of the screen using a slingshot of sorts.

The game features special powers which you unlock automatically when you collect enough memories of a certain color.

Veteran Puzzle Bobble players will notice new game modes and challenges such as skill shots which require that you hit a target that is protected by rotating fans.

The game is well done and features more than 125 different levels to play through.

This is a beta empire building game in which you develop your local economy to do battle with other players in the world.

The game is released as a beta and it shows in several ways, such as by not having a tutorial yet.

If you have played a similar game before you know what to do though; improve your buildings, build new ones to gather more and better resources, and hire units to defend your castle from attacks and carry out attacks against other players of the game.

Magic Secret Agent is a challenging puzzle game in which you throw a ball to teleport your agent to it.

The game is all about throwing the ball correctly to reach platforms, avoid traps and reach switches and other items in the game that you need to use or collect before you can reach the exit of a level.

There is no time limit or restriction in regards to the number of balls you can throw. That's excellent especially for gamers who don't like being pressured in games like these.

It is unlikely that an official Mario game will be released for the Windows platform anytime soon. Super Mario Touch is an unofficial game made in HTML5 that offers levels to play through and an editor to create your own levels.

The game supports touch and keyboard game play (gamepad not tested), and plays a bit too fast when you compare it to the original game on the Super Nintendo.

One-hundred and thirty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

The Windows 10 release is less than two months away, at least for home PCs and tablets. If you are running Windows 7 or 8.1, you may be interested in reserving the upgrade for your system, or removing the notification if you don't plan to upgrade.

This week saw the release of several quality apps. Yidio for instance lets you search more than a dozen different streaming services for movies and TV shows.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

One-hundred and thirty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft launched the music section in the Windows Store to Windows 10 Insiders on Build 10130. The software giant is slowly turning the store into a portal for all sorts of entertainment, not just apps.

This week was rather weak in regards to applications and games. In fact, not a single application made it in the top list this week and we did not pick an app of the week either because of it.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

You try to infect the whole world in Plague Inc., which was first released as a Flash game on various Internet sites but has since then been released as a standalone game for various platforms as well.

To achieve the aim of infecting everyone, you evolve the plague through combinations of disease types, transmissions, symptoms and abilities in order to prevent humanity finding a cure for it.

Kung Fury is an 80's inspired beat em up game that plays similar to classic fighting games such as Streets of Rage or Final Fight.

The game itself is rather basic when it comes to fighting though as you are not controlling the character's movement much as you only select the attack direction by hitting the left or right attack button.

Another game of the popular Toca franchise for children. This is a no-rules driving game in which you can either race around in the city the game ships with or in a city that you create yourself in the game's editor.

Creation is simple as you add objects to the city via drag and drop or touch. You may place traffic lights, stop signs, buildings, other cars or jumps as you see fit, and drive around in your newly built town afterwards.

One-hundred and thirty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft revealed plans this week to improve the Windows Store user experience by enforcing new policies to remove low-quality apps from the store. It is however, not the first time Microsoft promised to improve the quality of its Store and it remains to be seen if the new attempt will have a positive effect on user experience.

The games category is still number one in terms of new arrivals in store this week.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

Browse and shop Tesco Ireland products online. The app ships with a selection of nice-to-have features such as barcode scanning, a comprehensive search application and supports Tesco services such as click and collect, access to "my usuals", or the booking of delivery slots.

This week saw the release of several high quality apps and games (mostly games). App of the week is the excellent Pocket client Poki which synchronizes your Pocket articles automatically and features offline access among other features.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

A-Montage is an animated GIF maker that supports the creation of animations from videos and photos or drawings.

As far as videos are concerned, you can load a source video from the local computer or select a YouTube video instead. All that is left then is to play the video and start the capturing process. The app displays the GIFs to you as a preview before you can save it to the local system.

You may use images, drawings and text instead to create animated GIFs. The process takes longer as you need to add each frame manually to the GIF.

Last but not least, A-Montage also allows you to create time-lapse videos.

Mystery Dungeon HD Lite is a rock-paper-scissors game at its core but adds different heroes and light RPG elements to the game.

You start the game with three heroes and can buy additional ones for in-game or premium currency in the store. Each hero has attributes such as health or attack power which improve when they level up and through equipment.

Heroes represent rock, paper or scissors in battle and you pick one hero that you want to play each turn. These representations change when you play heroes which means that you may end up with only one or two options but not all three.

The game features spells that your heroes can cast, boss enemies at the end of each level, and more to keep you entertained while playing.

One-hundred and twenty nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft announced this week that Windows 10 will launch this summer for PCs only and that Windows 10 on other devices will be released later.

This week saw the release of several high profile apps and games. App of the week is Zombie Driver HD, a well designed professional arcade racing game. If apps are more your thing, you may want to check out Verizon Messages which adds messaging functionality for Verizon customers, and DeNoise, a professional noise reduction application.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

Zombie Driver HD is a well-designed mature game that mixes driving with weapons, explosions and zombies.

It features several game modes including a 31 mission campaign in which you rescue people, fight bosses, collect all sorts of weaponry and extras, and drive different vehicles from a plain old cab to fire trucks and tanks.

Visuals, audio and presentation of the game are excellent and there is more to play than just the campaign.

There is blood race for one, a mode in which you participate in 30 events in arcade fashion, and a survival mode in which you fight in arenas against never ending waves of monsters.

This is the latest Doodle game in which you combine elements to create tanks and armored vehicles. You start with four basic elements that you need to blend in unique ways to create new elements which in turn unlock new tanks and vehicles.

Apart from the puzzle aspect, it provides information on tanks and armored vehicles which history buffs may appreciate

I did buy the card game Boss Monster on last year's Spiel event in Essen, Germany and liked the game a lot. In it you create a dungeon, lure heroes into it and try to collect their souls. If heroes make it through your dungeon, you are wounded and if you get too many wounds it is game over for you.

You play dungeon and spell cards during your turn which determine which heroes enter your dungeon or the dungeons of your opponents.

The basic game is free to play but limited to one on one play against the computer. To unlock online multiplayer as well as additional cards and features you need to purchase expansions from within the game.

DeNoise is a noise reduction app for RAW, JPG, PNG and other photo formats that enables you to clean up photos using global and local controls.

The app displays a before and after slider to preview changes made in real-time. DeNoise supports several options to customize the output, from Luma Noise and Color Noise Thresholds to brightness and saturation controls.

The image converter supports more than 550 different digital camera RAW input files which you can process using the tools it makes available.

Apart from loading and converting these file formats, it offers basic image editing functionality that allows you to resize, rotate or correct photos before you export them in one of the supported formats.

Gem Crush Legends is an addictive puzzle game in which you try to complete certain tasks by removing gems from the board.

All adjacent gems of the same color as the gem you clicked on are removed from the board. Depending on how many, this might create special gems in the process that create massive explosions when combined with gems of the same color.

The Machine is a platform game in which you move an ink droplet through a machine.

Jumping is the only option you have in the game to move forward. It is a simple game mechanic but the layout and items in each level make this a tricky affair.

There are spikes and chainsaws that you need to avoid, rotating machinery to jump on to and chasms to fall into.

Add to that a time limit to get maximum points and several other game modes like the unforgiving arcade mode in which you try to climb as high as possible before the chainsaws get you, and you get a wonderful game that will keep you entertained for a long while.

Montezuma Blitz is a match-3 type of game that introduces several new game mechanics. First, there is always a 60 second time limit which speeds the game up quite a bit. Related to that is that you may create as many matches as you can as moves are not restricted at all anymore.

Then there is the new totem mechanic which you activate before levels to gain assistance during that level. The fire totem for example shots at gems whenever you make two red matches in a row.

Apart from that, it features tournaments that you can play in provided that you link the game to your Facebook account.

DuckTales Remastered is a remake of the classic 8-bit game DuckTales. The remastered edition has been available for other platforms, PC, Android or PS3 for instance, since 2013 and this Windows version is just another port of that game.

It is a side-scrolling jump and run game at its core that stays true to the classic game for the most part.

While not super-cheap, the Windows version is cheaper than the PC version so that you may want to pick it if you want to play the game on your computer.

StaffPad is a music notation application that supports handwriting recognition. It works best with a digital pen to write music which the app will transform automatically to typeset score which you can then edit, play or print.

Please note that Staffpad requires a device with touch capabilities and a connected pen.

Kopy provides you with options to copy text from one device to another. To use it, you either need to use a Kopy application on devices you want to use the service on or the web service which provides similar functionality.

The system supports temporary accounts in form of QR codes or permanent accounts which require that you sign up for the service.

Smash Bandits Racing is a fun racing game in which you try to evade the cops for as long as possible.

Similar to other games of its kind, you start with a low wanted level that increases while you evade the police and cause havoc on the street.

Challenges, updates and different cars that you can drive keep you entertained while playing the game. Upgrades improve speed and handling for instance or may puncture proof the car's tires to drive straight through spike strips without taking damage.

Tubecast Pro is a YouTube application with universal casting support. The app supports Google's Chromecast and AirPlay allowing you to cast clips to compatible devices such as Smart TVs, Apple TV, Chromecast devices and DLNA.

The app can cast online and offline videos (download is supported by it) and gives you total volume and seek control on top of that.

This is an excellent application that supports different streaming qualities including 1080p and 1440p. Another interesting feature is the ability to continue playing the sound of videos while the device is locked.

Crimsonland is a classic arena shooter in which you try to survive for as long as possible. The game offers two game modes: "quest" mode divides the game into levels in which you need to terminate all aliens to proceed, while "survival" is a classic survival game in which you play for as long as you can without dying.

Enemies that you kill drop extras and better weapons that you can pick up to increase your chances of success. The game features different enemy types and becomes increasingly difficult in later stages.

Star Wars Rebels: Mission Recon is a jump and run game based on the popular TV show Star Wars Rebels. The first four levels of the game are free to play and act as an introduction to it. The whole game becomes available when you buy packs -- currently for $4 and $2 -- that unlock the other levels and characters that you can play as.

The game itself is a classic jump and run game in the Star Wars universe. Depending on the character that you play, you are either equipped with a laser gun that you can shoot enemy droids and troops with, or a lightsaber.

Apart from classic jump and run gameplay, you are solving quests and rescuing people to add to your secret rebel base that you build from scratch. Visuals are well done and if you like Star Wars, you will certainly like this game.

File Cards is a file manager for Windows that displays folders and files in cards in its interface. Each card that you add in the application links to one or multiple folders or files that you add to it.

This means that only files and folders that you add to the app are listed by it while everything else is not. You can zoom in and out easily which may be necessary depending on how many files and folders you have added to a card.

The application supports several interesting features on top of the usual loading, copying or searching functionality that all file managers ship with. Since you can display multiple cards side by side, you can use drag and drop operations to move or copy files and folders between them.

There is also an option to create a new image file based on clipboard contents and a couple of extra features such as zip file support or options to pin files to the operating system's start screen. The application is available for $4.49 until April 23.

Gladiatorial combat at its finest. Enter the arena, pick your weapon of choice to defeat the other gladiators. The game features a versatile combat system supporting more than just blind hacking and slashing.

Pick up weapons from the ground, block and dodge, and use combos to defeat your opponents. A commercial version of the game that is not limited is available as well.

R.O.O.T.S. is a strategy game in which you control trees on planets. Your task in the game is to grow your type of trees on each world by linking planets together. There are alien trees in each level that you need to eliminate to proceed to the next.

The size of each planet determines the strength of its tree, which in turn determines the maximum distance that its roots can travel in the universe.

Some god took away the shadows of all of the people in the game and your task is to get your shadow back. Since you can only move in the shadows, you have to move objects around to clear a path for you to reach switches and the level exit.

The game is quite difficult and it may take a while before you get used to its game mechanics. All in all though it's very entertaining.

Finally a match-3 type of game that introduces something new to the genre. The big new feature that Tales of the Orient introduces is rotation. You can rotate the level by 90 degrees in either direction which opens new options and strategies.

At its core, it is a match-3 type game with an Asian theme and beautiful artwork.

It is a dictation app using the company's tested speech recognition engine.

Dragon Notes is a bare bones app. All you get is one icon that you need to click or tap on to dictate and another click or tap to complete the operation.

The text is then processed server-side and displayed to you if everything worked correctly.

Probably the biggest issue that you may have with the app is that it does not display text while you speak. The text is displayed only after it has been processed and there is no way to go back and correct things using your voice. What you can do however is edit the text manually.

The app itself offers no exporting options either which means that you have to use copy and paste to do so.

With that said, the text recognition is excellent even if you speak English with a heavy accent (German in my case).

Not a Cat is a jump and run game with interesting game mechanics. One core feature of the game are elements that you can select to aid you while you are playing the game. The fire element for instance enables you to walk over lava without taking damage, while water lets you slip through cracks.

The usual traits of this kind of game are all there: lots of running and jumping, enemies that you can defeat or avoid, and coins that you collect to buy equipment.

Dungeon Hunter is an action role-playing game that plays similar to genre favorites such as Diablo 2 or Torchlight.

The game features different character classes but uses the term loosely as you can switch between different play styles in the game independent of the class that you have started the game with.

Dungeon Hunter offers everything that you expect from a game of its kind. Lots of slashing and hacking, looting to get better equipment, level ups to become stronger, and a story that you follow throughout the game.

It features single-player and cooperative game play, crafting and great visuals.

The game is free to play and uses premium currency in-game that you need to purchase select items such as potions.

This is a simple torrent client for Windows that supports torrent files but not magnet links.

The contents of a torrent that you add to the app are displayed giving you options to download some or all files included in it.

The client itself is bare bones. You don't get any options whatsoever other than downloading torrent files. So, no selecting of download directories, bandwidth limits and other features desktop torrent clients support.

Design, create and 3D print characters with the help of Autodesk Tinkerplay. The app ships with built-in character templates that teach you the basics and options to start your own creations from scratch.

Tinkerplay ships with options to test your designs in the application to make sure they are ready for 3D printing.

Test Chamber is a unique puzzle game in which you try to leave each level via the exit. What makes it special is that maps repeat at the top, bottom and both sides of the screen and you need to use this in some levels to complete it.

At its core, it is all about constructing bridges by filling gaps with cubes that you find in each level. Later stages of the game introduce new elements like force fields.

One-hundred and twenty two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Still no sign of a new Windows 10 Preview build but Microsoft promises that releases will be released faster to Windows Insider in the future.

This week has seen the release of several high quality apps and games including the news reader Fedora Reader, the curated app store alternative AppFeds and Blitz Breaker Alpha, a well designed game supporting touch and the mouse.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

This is a building game in which you grow a farm in a fantasy land filled with orcs, dwarves and elves.

Complete quests, build roads and different kinds of buildings to generate resources that you need to expand your farm further.

The game is free to play but offers in-app purchases to speed up certain processes and buy in-game items. One interesting option provided is to disable these in the game so that purchases cannot be made any more.

NewsCrawler is a free RSS news feed reader for Windows 8. Feeds are added individually or by importing an OPML file that the majority of feed readers support.

Feeds are displayed on the apps' homepage with their unread count. A new page is loaded when you click on a feed displaying all articles in a sidebar and one of the articles in the reader part on the screen.

One interesting option is to show the full article which loads the web page the article was published on in the reader. This can be useful if a feed delivers partial articles only or if you want to access comments or other information that are not included in the feed.

Disney Infinity 2.0 introduces Marvel characters on top of Disney characters that you can play with.

Characters come in form of play sets that introduce worlds and adventures in the game, and the new Toy Box 2.0 brings them all together so that you can mix characters and worlds to create your own adventures.

The game is free but you are limited to three characters. Additional characters need to be purchased to introduce them in the game.

This new version of the classic game Boulder Dash comes from the creators of the original game back in 1984.

The Windows edition offers 160 levels that you can play through as well as an extra 80 levels available for purchase in-game.

The classic game of digging around, collecting gems and avoiding monsters is still there but you will encounter additional features and options such as different characters that you can play as or special powers that may help you in times of need.

A free password manager for Windows that allows you to store passwords locally on the system.

The application is rather bare bones when compared to established products such as LastPass or KeePass as it comes with no import options or options to fill out login information on websites or in applications automatically.

If you are just looking for a free app to store your passwords in, this may do it though.

Candy Rain 2 is a match-3 type game that offers everything that you'd expect from a game of its kind.

It is free to play, offers tons of levels to play through and all the combos and game modes that match-3 games ship with.

It is free and well designed but just like many other games of its kind, it is not introducing anything new to the genre apart from the fact that it is a bit easier than the rest as you can use special candy all the time.

One-hundred and nineteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Our app of the week is Smash Cops Heat, an addictive fast paced arcade game in which you chase after criminals with your police car. Other apps and games of note include the promising Cody's App Academy which teaches basic programming concepts to children and the shoot'em up game Raijin Lite.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts this week

The following games and apps are discounted by at least 50 percent in the coming seven day period.

AOL features videos, movies and television shows that you can watch using the app. What's interesting about it is that it does not seem to be geo-restricted which means that you can watch it from anywhere in the world.

According to AOL, it features over a million videos that you can watch.

Autodesk Pixlr is a photo editing software that offers basic image editing options and Instagram-like effects that you can apply to your pictures.

The first two menu options displayed on the left sidebar offer basic image editing options such as cropping the image, removing red eye effects or changing color or contrast.

The remaining six options lead to various effects that you can apply. You will notice that some of the effects are not available right away and that you need to create a free account to gain access to them.

Effects range from adding various kinds of firework and stickers to the image to border effects and over one hundred Instagram-like effects that apply filters to the loaded image.

Processed images can be saved to the local system or shared using Windows' share feature.

Breakout? is a faithful adoption of the classic arcade game of the same name. It is a distant cousin of Pong but with the difference that there is only one paddle and that you use the ball to destroy bricks displayed on the screen.

Your task in each level is to use the ball to remove all bricks in it to advance to the next level.

The game plays well and features 15 levels in total that you can play through. The one thing that is not so great is that it displays many ads at the bottom of the screen that are animated sometimes.

This is a free learning application for children who are starting to read. It features games designed to enhance skills such as basic English, letter recognition or vocabulary.

Only the first three quizzes are available for free. Two additional quizzes become available after you have rated the app, and the final three only when you purchase the premium version of the application.

Destruction Derby was a great game and Crash Derby tries to bring the game's greatness to Windows 8.

You can play it with the keyboard or touch, and try to wreck all other cars in the arena to win the race.

It is not an realistic game though as you can pick up power-ups, health and money while driving. You can spend money in the ship to improve your car further, for instance to increase its top speed or health.

One-hundred and seventeen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft released preview versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint on systems running the latest official Windows 10 Technical Preview build. The company optimized the universal apps for touch and mobile use, and first reports indicate that they run fine on all devices regardless of screen size.

On to the apps and games. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts this week

The following games and apps are discounted by at least 50 percent in the coming seven day period.

The Tribez is a building game in which you develop your village from humble beginnings to a metropolis.

Control and hire workers, the backbone of your village. You can use workers for a variety of tasks that include constructing new buildings, operating buildings and gathering resources.

Quests are given to you on a regular basis which act as guidance and offer rewards on completion.

Most activities require resources, workers and take a certain amount of time before they complete which means that you there are times where you cannot do anything but sit back and wait for tasks to complete.

Your workers need food for example which you produce on fields or by gathering resources from bushes.

Some tasks take hours to complete and you can either wait out the time or use premium currency to speed things up.

This is a basic income and expense tracking application. You can use it to manage one-time and recurring income as well as expenses.

Transfers are linked to accounts which you can add and manage in the app as well. It ships with two accounts, bank and wallet, and options to add more accounts, a second bank account for example, as well.

Mindcraft meets deathmatch, that is probably the best way to describe Survival Games Season 1.

It is an online game in which you compete against up to 15 other players. Besides fighting, it is also necessary to keep a constant eye on your stamina, food and sleep meters.

As far as combat is concerned, you can equip melee and ranged weapons as well as armor. In addition to using these weapons, you can also lay traps or explosives on the map.

You can customize your character to your liking and select character perks that give you an edge in one way or the other.

The tutorial that you can play through is quite confusing as it is gives you contradicting instructions on what to do next. There are signs that describe how you would use a game controller to perform an action while overlaying instructions how to use the keyboard.

One-hundred and sixteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft released its Q2 FY2015 this week and additional information on Windows 10, the fate of Windows RT and its cloud file hosting service OneDrive. If you are running Windows 10 already on a system you may have noticed that it ships with two stores: the old store that is also available on Windows 8.1 and a new beta store which the company plans to switch to when Windows 10 gets released.

On to the apps and games. As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts this week

The following games and apps are discounted by at least 50 percent in the coming seven day period.

The game looks like a Tetris variant on first glance but it plays totally differently to the popular puzzle game.

You place blocks of varying geometrical shapes on a 10x10 map. Once you fill a row or column completely with blocks all blocks of that line are removed and you can use it again to place more blocks on it.

Three blocks are displayed to you and it is up to you in which order you place them on the board. Other differences to Tetris are that you cannot rotate the blocks and new blocks become available only after you place all three on the board.

One-hundred and fourteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the past seven days.

Microsoft is expected to release a new version of its upcoming operating system Windows 10 on January 21 to the public which should shed more light on the company's plans in regards to its Windows operating system.

It will be interesting to see how Windows Store will be integrated into the operating system, especially on desktop devices, and if there will be other app-related changes.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts this week

The following games and apps are discounted by at least 50 percent in the coming seven day period.

Weather apps are a dime a dozen but CurrentWeather is different in some regards. First of all, it displays everything on the screen so that you don't have to scroll or switch pages to access some information.

Details include current weather conditions, a five day forecast, precipitation, visibility, humidity and pressure. The app supports Celsius and Fahrenheit and offers options to switch between metric and US units in the preferences.

You can add as many places as you like to the app and switch between places easily with two clicks.

Black Rainbow is an adventure game that puts you in the shoes of Helen Stone who came back to her village after a friendly trade with a local tribe only to discover that it was attacked with fire arrows and is now burning to the ground.

You guide Helen in the game and try to discover why the village was attacked.

The game itself combines classic adventure game puzzles with mini-games and "find in picture" type challenges.

Note that this is just a free trial and that the full game needs to be purchased.

One-hundred and twelve in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the past seven days. The number of new apps and games in Windows Store slowed down due to Christmas and New Year festivities throughout the world.

If you are interested in games, you may have noticed an increase in fake game releases this week. These look like popular games but are sold for a fraction of the price of the real ones. It is clear that Microsoft needs to step up its verification process in this regard as this is not the first time it has happened.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts this week

The following games and apps are discounted by at least 50 percent in the coming seven day period.

This is a brain training application offering games and performance tracking tools.

It features more than 360 games designed to improve memory and concentration, increase attention span or recognition.

A free account is required before you can get started and a pro account is required if you want access to all games. That's not a requirement though to use the application.

All games are time based and require that you interact with what is shown on the screen. This can be as simple as pressing the mouse when a traffic light shows the green color but also complex puzzles like combining word syllables or a memory game.

Through the Cave is a puzzle game in which you control a wizard who needs to defeat monsters in a cave to proceed.

You defeat monsters by combining at least three of them that are connected to each other. Extras are provided if you connect six or more monsters of the same color which clears rows or columns automatically when activated.

The game features a variety of game modes from reaching a high score to collecting enough monsters of a certain kind or removing all tiles on the floor of the level. These are similar to game modes found in match-3 type of games such as Candy Crush.

Frozen Free Fall by Disney is a match-3 type of game that plays similar to other games of its kind.

Match three or more gems of a kind to combine them and remove them from the map. If you combine more than three gems at a time you create special gems that can remove entire rows, columns or even all gems of a kind from the map.

Levels offer diverse goals from reaching a certain score to moving objects all the way down or breaking items free that are stuck in ice.

There are characters that you can unlock from the movie which grant you powers that you can use while playing the game.

This game plays like a Minesweeper and Boulder Dash Mix. It takes the core Minesweeper concept of highlighting adjacent bombs by numbers on the game board and mixes it with treasure hunting elements.

Your tasks in the game is to reach the level exit. To do so you move the treasure hunter around in the level. When you come close to bricks they may disappear directly if no mine is adjacent to them or display a number instead indicating how many mines there are.

You will search for keys that you require to open doors to proceed in the level, and collect gold and diamonds that you find along the way.

Taptiles takes the classic game of Mahjong to the next level by adding a third dimension and different game modes to it.

While you are still matching tiles to remove them from the board, it is now necessary to rotate the game board to see and interact with tiles that are hidden from view due to the three dimensional layout of it.

The game features several modes including daily challenges and also a relaxation mode that you can play at your own pace without time constraints.

Star Wars Assault Team is a strategic turn-based action game in which you control a team of Star Wars characters such as Luke, Han, Leia or Chewbacca from the original trilogy.

The game visits several key places including Endor and Tatooine and Darth Vader's flagship the Devestator Star Destroyer.

You move automatically in each mission until you encounter enemies or need to interact with objects in the location you are in.

Battles are turn-based and each character has the option to attack or use a special attack instead if it is ready. Han Solo for instance has the Lucky Shot trait which allows him to do double damage against enemies when used.

Characters can be upgraded and leveled up after levels. One interesting feature of the game is the sheer number of characters that you can find and play.

While not exclusively available for Windows 8, GT Racing 2 is probably the best racing game available for the system right now.

It features over 1,400 racing events that include classic races, overtake events and knockouts.

The game walks you through core game mechanics in the beginning after you have purchased your first car. Cars can -- and need to be -- upgraded to participate in races and events, and once you have earned enough money, you can purchase cars that are more powerful.

The handling of cars is quite good in the game and experienced racers may want to turn off steering and braking assistance for full control.

Throne Together looks similar to Tetris at first glance. While there are similarities, like placing blocks that you can rotate, the games are quite different as blocks don't get removed once you complete a full row of them.

Your task in the game is to build castles based on client wishes. This includes filling specific parts of the screen with blocks, connecting the throne to the castle walls, or reaching a certain number of points.

Special objects, doors, windows or spires are introduced later on which provide score boosts when placed properly on the map.

The best apps for Windows 8 series on Betanews is almost as old the Windows 8 operating system itself. If you follow the series closely you know that it has had its ups and downs depending on what apps are released in a given week.

Things improved after the release of Windows 8.1 as more quality apps and games were released for the operating system.

What we have not done so far is to list the best apps for the year, but this changes today with this article.

Since this is the first article of its kind, we are including apps released in 2012 and 2013 as well in the list.

Next year, we will focus the year's end article on 2015 apps releases exclusively.

The following rules apply:

Apps that Windows 8.x ships with are not included. This includes the majority of Microsoft apps.

If we had to decide between an app available for other systems and an app that is exclusive to Windows 8, we picked the latter.

Tweetium is arguably the best Twitter client for Windows 8. The base app supports a single Twitter account with options to upgrade to a Pro version from within the app to increase that limit up to seven.

The layout adjusts perfectly to any screen size and orientation, and there is an option to launch multiple instances of the app in windows.

It supports real-time updates, direct embeds of several popular media types, photo uploads and fast username auto-completes when posting new messages.

All standard Twitter features, such as searching for contents, opening user profiles, following users or managing lists are supported by it as well.

If you enjoy watching anime shows and movies you won't be disappointed by AnimeTube.

You can browse the list of supported shows alphabetically, filter by genre, dubbed or subbed, or use the search to find a particular show of interest.

While you may not find all popular anime series (Kino's Journey is missing for example) you'll find that a great number of highly rated shows are provided including Fullmetal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Naruto or Dragon Ball. Episodes and movies play in a small area by default with options to increase the resolution to near full screen.

The quality ranges from SD to HD with many shows available in full HD resolution.

You can add shows to the favorites so that you can open them faster and without using search first.

This beautifully designed application lists hundreds of cocktail recipes for you to browse through.

Cocktails can be filtered in numerous ways, from color and base drink to festivities and type. New Year's Eve is just around the corner for example and if you select it, you get a list of about 20 cocktails for the event.

The My Cabinet feature enables you to add ingredients to the application that you have at your disposal. Once added, all cocktails that you can create using the ingredients are listed by the application.

Recipes include the list of ingredients, preparation and a list of similar cocktails.

Windows 8 has its fair share of Reddit clients and most are quite good.

RedditHubV2 is fast and responsive, and it supports all the things that you could possibly want from a Reddit client.

You can sign in to your Reddit account to get a custom experience or skip the step and use the app without account. If you sign in you get the full Reddit experience including submissions, commenting, notifications and subscription management.

The app displays posts in a small sidebar on the left, and the actual linked content or discussion in a larger area on the right of it.

This makes it comfortable, as you don't have to open images or conversations in tabs or windows anymore. ReddHubV2 supports live tiles and Windows toast notifications.

Nextgen Reader is a client for the RSS management service Feedly. It syncs with Feedly automatically to display all subscribed feeds and unread items in its interface.

It uses a 3-pane view listing feed titles, items of the selected feed or group, and contents of the selected item.

Support includes multiple styles, dark or light for example, and Readability and Instapaper for text styles.

One interesting feature is the ability to switch between summary and full articles. Some websites publish only excerpts to their RSS feed and this feature enables you to display it in full regardless of that preference.

The app features more than 150k recipes from the Allthecooks community. The app displays editor choice recipes on start as well as options to browse recipe categories such as main dishes, desserts or soups.

Besides that, you will also find recent and trending recipes, recipes that were featured recently and a search that you can use to find recipes.

Search is excellent as it makes use of filters. If you search for pancakes for example, you can check dietary preferences, ingredients, and other filters such as easy, hot or vegetarian.

Ingredients are listed for each recipe as well as instructions. One interesting feature here is the option to modify servings which will adjust the ingredients accordingly automatically.

Now You: Your favorite app is not listed? Feel free to share it in the comments section below.

One-hundred and eleven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

I've noticed for some time now that Windows Store doesn't return some apps or games when you search for the exact name in store. The only way to find the app using search is to look for the company name instead. Hopefully this problem will be fixed soon.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts

Red Stripe deals are back this week but instead of six discounted apps you get twelve this time.

The same apps and games that were discounted last week are still available at a discount.

The cooking book, based on the paper book How To Cook Everything, offers 2,000 recipes, numerous illustrations and information, such as how-to guides that explain how to make pasta, clean squid, or carve roast chicken.

The ingredients and steps are listed for each recipe in the app. There may also be related content which link to how to articles. For instance, the Double-Coconut Sauteed Chicken Breasts recipe links to mincing a shallot and using a chef's knife.

Ingredients can be added to a shopping list which you can sent to an email. A printing option is unfortunately not provided.

If you cannot get enough of match-3 type of games, here is another one. Christmas Cookie is a Christmas themed match-3 type of game in which you have to complete certain tasks in each level to unlock the next.

This includes tasks to collect a certain number of cookies, to break blocked tiles on the board, or to clear the surface of tiles instead.

The game offers a solid number of levels and enough diversity to be entertaining if you like puzzle or match-3 type of games.

Endless Reader is a learning application for children. The free version consists of six common words that children learn.

Learning includes correct spelling, pronunciation and correct use in a sentence.

Six words is not a lot but it should be enough to try the app and see if your children like it and want to work with it.

You can purchase additional word packs for the three levels the app supports currently with levels building up on each other. Level 3, the highest level available, currently consists of words used in 2nd and 3rd grade books for example.

Drive a monster truck from start to finish in this physics-based racing game. The game itself is free to play but uses mechanics such as energy and advertisements to earn money.

You control the truck with two keys or buttons to accelerate and brake. The main challenge of each level lies in the proper use of both options to reach the finish line and to collect all the coins as well for a better score.

Build the famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris in this app. It is a building and resource collecting game at its core in which you are challenged to collect resources such as stone, process the resources and deliver them to their destination.

This may sound easy at first but it becomes challenging in the later stages of the game due to the time limit and complexity of the task asked of you.

One-hundred and ten in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

The games category of the store is plagued by fakes this week. You'll find popular games such as GTA 5, Skyrim and Dragon Age Inquisition in the store offered not by the publisher of the game but by individuals. It is not clear why Microsoft seems to have such a hard time preventing these apps from being listed in store in the first place.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts

Red Stripe deals are back this week but instead of six discounted apps you get twelve this time.

One-hundred and nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

Microsoft sent out invites yesterday for an event in January where it will talk about the next chapter of the Windows 10 operating system. Check out Wayne's post for information on the event.

Several great apps and games have been released this week including the football manager NFL Showdown, the Snapdeal Shopping application, and a couple of Hasbro boardgame remakes that include Scrabble and Risk.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts

Red Stripe Deals are not featured in Windows Store at the time of writing. It is not clear if this is temporary or not.

I have to admit that I never played FarmVille before and cannot compare the Windows version to other versions.

The game is a basic farming simulator, more or less, in which you build-up a farm from scratch.

You construct new buildings to store or process food, sell goods on the market, grow plants on farmland or add cattle to your farm.

While you can sell goods on the market you can use many of them on your farm directly as well. The wheat that you produce feeds cows for example, which in turn produce milk that you can sell for a profit on the market.

You can buy adjacent land to grow your farm, trade and chat with other players, or connect to your Facebook farm for synergies and bonuses.

One-hundred and nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

This week has seen several new game releases but not a single app release of note. Notable games include Pastry Paradise, a match-3 type of game that introduces several new elements to the genre and Brave Furries, a great looking and playing puzzle game.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

Pastry Paradise is a well done match-3 type of game that introduces one new element to the game type. In addition to swapping elements vertically or horizontally, you can also swap them diagonally.

That's not the only change though that it brings to the table. You battle against computer controlled players at times trying to swap a certain number of tiles to your color before the opponent does so.

This introduces a new element of strategy to the game that can be challenging at times.

The game is well done and thoughtfully designed, and if you like match-three types of games you will certainly enjoy this one as well.

Slide Quest is a match-3 type of game that plays in a similar style to the all-popular Candy Crush Saga, but instead of swapping two pieces on the board you slide rows or columns instead to find matches.

It uses touch-based controls which means that you cannot play it with mouse and keyboard.

The game is packed with 500 levels with varying objectives for you to play through.

One-hundred and eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

Microsoft revealed its Black Friday deals earlier this week. Starting November 27 customers from the US and Canada will be able to save up to $150 on a Surface Pro 3 or a Surface 2 purchase with deals available on Microsoft's official store, Microsoft retail stores and participating stores such as Best Buy.

This week has seen the release of several great applications. Toca Boo is a great game for children for example in which you try to scare family members (in a friendly manner).

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

The official Wolfram Alpha application for Windows 8 is available for $2.99. There is no free trial available unfortunately but you get a similar experience to what Wolfram Alpha is offering on the web.

Enter a query into the search form and receive results immediately. A wide range of subjects is supported, from Math and Geography to People and Sports.

One-hundred and seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

Microsoft released a new Windows 10 preview build this week. With it comes an option to remove the Task View and Search buttons from the taskbar, new gestures, native MKV support and more. Check out Wayne's post on what is new and changed here. App of the week is Halo Channel, a new information app for all things Halo. It features video clips, movies, live streams, and lots of information about the Halo universe.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

You are asked to sign in to a Microsoft Account on start. The application offers information and contents about Halo and its universe.

You find Halo related movies there for example which you can play right away, watch live Twitch streams of the recently released Halo: The Master Chief Collection, listen to Halo music, or watch news and clips about the series.

The app offers opportunities to unlock exclusive in-game content by using it, according to Microsoft.

If you are playing Halo, this is something that you may want to check out.

The official game for the movie is a street racing simulation. It is interesting to note that you don't really drive the car but only tap or click on buttons while the car is driving to shift gears, fast start or drift.

As you would expect from a game like this, you can fine tune and tweak your car or change its style with various paint jobs, spoilers or decals.

The tutorial introduces you to the different types of races that you will encounter including pure races and drift races.

Fast & Furious 6 features a story mode and other missions that you can drive. The story requires your car to meet certain requirements before new chapters get unlocked which means that you will drive race missions to earn enough money that you can spend on the upgrades.

One-hundred and six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

Good news for Windows RT users who are eagerly awaiting the release of VLC Media Player for their devices. According to Thomas Nigro, VLC developer for Windows 8 and Windows Phone, it is already in the testing phase

This week has seen some quality releases such as Beach Buggy Racing, Big Hero 6 Bot Fight, and Way of Dodo.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

Beach Buggy Racing is a Mario Kart style racing game for Windows. It features a career mode in which you climb slowly to the top by racing in a series of increasing difficulty levels.

The graphics look fantastic and you get that Mario Kart feeling instantly once you have completed the short tutorial.

The game supports touch, keyboard and gamepad controls, and all seem to work equally fine.

You start the game with a beach buggy and one of the drivers. It is possible to upgrade the current vehicle, to improve its acceleration or top speed for example or to switch cars which offer different characteristics.

These cards cost coins which you earn while playing the game. It is furthermore possible to purchase extra coins in the in-game shop.

Powerups are also available. You start the game with six and need to unlock the others using in-game currency as well.

If you like Mario Kart or racing games, this one is for you. The game does feature a multiplayer mode but it is not free and needs to be purchased.

This is a side-scrolling running game in which you control your character only marginally.

The only control you have is the space bar. The longer you press it the higher you jump in the game which becomes important quickly as you need to time the jumps right to avoid obstacles and catch coins and extras along the way.

Extras range from a coin magnet to vehicles that protect you from one misstep in the game.

This game requires a touch-device as you cannot control it with mouse and keyboard.

It is a driving and parking game that takes place in different cities around the world.

Your task in the game is to get to the parking spot and park your vehicle. This may sound easy but you have to avoid obstacles along the way as you will only get all stars in a level if you manage to do so.

A match-three type of game in which you combine power cells to attack enemies that are displayed on the screen.

A color is associated with each bot and when you match power cells of that color on the board attacks are carried out.

Attacks are combined when different colors are removed from the board in a single turn.

Your health is lowered when enemies attack but you can replenish it by combining heart symbols on the board.

Your bots gain experience after each battle and level up which makes them more powerful. Leveling up is also important for replenishing your energy level as you can only fight if you have enough energy left. The game makes heavy use of in-app purchases.

You can use it to record TV shows with just a tap of the button to play them on the device once the recording process completes. Shows can also be recorded automatically so that you will never miss an episode again.

The shows get downloaded to your device in the process so that you can watch them even if no Internet connection is available.

New users get a two-week free subscription before they need to subscribe to the service to continue using it.

One-hundred and five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

If you have browsed the new app and games listing this week you may have stumbled upon several irregularities again.

A developer named Apple for instance has released the "game" "Download Starcraft 2 Here" to the store. The app consists of a single download button that redirects to Softonic and the Blizzard Downloader.

Other developers have uploaded similar fakes for games and programs such as Shadow of Mordor, Fallout 3 or the popular WSUS Offline Update program to the store.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games. You find a list of apps and games for Halloween at the end.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

One-hundred and four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x in the last seven days.

Microsoft may have cleaned up the store recently but there is still work to be done. If you check the newest apps in the Music & Video category for example you will notice eight paid YouTube applications of which all have been created by the same author and don't seem to be different at all.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

The Microsoft application displays weekly music deals that are discounted by at least 80 percent.

Deals and the remaining time are displayed in the interface on start. A tap on an offer or a category such as "must have pop" or "trick or beats" displays album and artist names as well as the price that it is available for.

The app is tied to the Music (Xbox Music) app on the device and will open it whenever you select to make a purchase.

Empire under Fire is a 3D tower defense game in which you try to prevent hordes of onrushing enemies from reaching a designated target location on the map.

You place four different kinds of towers on the map to defeat wave after wave. The barracks tower spawns defenders for example that block enemies from advancing while the mighty mage tower attacks from afar using magic.

Towers can be upgraded and powers are at your disposal as well which you can use to fire magic at foes or place additional soldiers on the battlefield to slow down the enemy advance.

One-hundred and three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x in the last seven days.

Big news this week was Microsoft's announcement that Halo: Spartan Strike will be released on December 12, 2014 for Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x.

Several questionable apps and games have been published to store this week including a game called Super Mario Bros which it turns out is Infinite Mario Bros by Mojang. In addition, several "Fun Unlimited" apps are available that deliver full seasons of popular TV shows such as Batman: Animated Series, Ben10, Mickey Mouse or Dragonball. These apps and the shows they make available are free and all created by a company called OOB App Creations.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

Sudoku is a logic based game in which you need to fill out all blank spots on the board with numbers. Each square and line (vertical and horizontal) needs to contain the numbers from 1 to 9 in the end.

Sudoku 9 offers great visuals and several thousand puzzles ranging from very easy to very hard and expert difficulty levels.

Hexoid 3D is a client game of HexGL. a futuristic racing game which means that it requires an Internet connection.

The game resembles classic games such as Wipeout or F-Zero but lacks different game modes or maps.

It ships with a single track to race on. Visuals are stunning but there is no variety in the game itself. There are no computer or human controlled drivers on the track for instance or choices to be made.

One-hundred and two in a series. Two weeks to go and we have reached the two-year milestone.

Last week was rather slow in terms of new apps and games that found their way into store and this week continues the trend. The popular VLC Media Player app for Windows 8 was updated this week introducing support for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The developers resolved several crash issues on top of that which should improve the stability of the app significantly. Then again, still no sign of a Windows RT version.

Project Spark, which has been available as a limited beta version for some time, has been launched officially by Microsoft offering new content and a retail version. According to Microsoft, more than 70,000 game levels have been created in the beta period alone.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

The official Cars game for Windows 8. It is a racing game in which you can pick a racer from 20 different characters including Lightning McQueen or Francesco Bernoulli.

Controls are rather basic for a racing game. You can touch or hold down the left-mouse button on the gas pedal to accelerate the car and use various touch-optimized gestures such as swiping up to complete stunts in the game.

One interesting feature of the game is the option to customize tracks and cars, for instance by adding roller coasters or rocky loops to tracks.

The game is a high quality game, featuring great graphics and quality voice acting.

Microsoft's Wireless Display Adapter is a new device that you can use to cast the screen of your laptop, tablet or smartphone to a monitor or HDTV.

It is different from Google's Chromecast in several aspects including that it does not require an Internet connection and that it does not restrict what can be shared.

The official application for the device offers customization options and firmware updates. You can use it to check if a new firmware has been released, and if that is the case, download it to your device to update the adapter.

The game requires an accelerometer and while you can start the game anyway, you cannot play it without one as it is essential.

You use the screen rotation to control rings in water that you need to get on the sticks placed in each level. To do so you use a pump to make the rings fly in the tank and tilt the screen to control the trajectory of the rings.

The game is fun to play and can become quite challenging in later stages.

One-Hundred and first in a series. Welcome to this week's selection of the best apps and games that were published to Microsoft's Windows Store.

Big news this week was the release of the Windows 10 Technical Preview. It introduces two changes from an apps point of view that are noteworthy. Apps can be run in windows now and the Start menu displays live tiles.

The week has been rather slow in terms of new apps and games. The app of the week is Dragon Revenge, a fantastic action game in which you take control of a dragon to burn, plunder and punish humans for taking away your gold.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games.

Red Stripe Deals

This week's selection of apps and games that have been discounted by at least 50 percent.

Follow the prompts that pop up. If you are asked to register for a developer license use your Microsoft Account to do so.

The core functionality works as far as I can tell. You can browse categories or use the search, view videos in full screen, read YouTube comments or sign-in and access your subscriptions and other personalized data.

Have you encountered situations before where audio suddenly starts to play in your web browser of choice without you clicking on a play button? This can be extremely frustrating, especially if you have opened multiple sites in rapid succession.

It happens because websites start to autoplay audio, either in the form of an embedded video or audio file, when a site gets loaded in the browser -- even if it is not the active tab.

The main issue that most web users have with this practice is that it is necessary to become active to stop the audio from playing on the system.

This can be done in several ways, for instance by finding the control on the web page that is playing the audio and muting it there, or by muting the volume of the entire browser.

Google Chrome displays audio indicators in open tabs in the browser which helps, but still requires users to click on the tab (or close it) and find the audio source to disable it.

Google has added an experimental flag to Chrome Dev and Canary (and Chromium) recently which improves the process further. All that it takes now is to click on the audio indicator to mute the sound.

Enable the feature

Please note that the feature is not available for Beta or Stable Chrome installations currently. It is however likely that the feature will land in those channels as well. Experimental flags are like beta features that Google needs to evaluate before the decision is made to integrate the feature into the browser directly.

To enable the new feature do the following:

Type chrome://flags/#enable-tab-audio-muting in the browser's address bar. This should open the experimental flags page of the browser and jump straight to the right flag.

Switch the flag to "enabled" with a click on the link.

Restart Chrome afterwards.

To disable it later, repeat the process outlined above but change its state to "disabled".

The feature works only when Chrome displays an audio indicator in the tab. This is the case when YouTube videos play in the browser but not necessarily the case for other media elements on other sites. It does not work for Vimeo videos right now for instance.

The flag adds a new entry to Chrome's tab context menu as well when multiple tabs are selected. You can use it to mute audio in all of those tabs at once.

Closing Words

Video or audio contents that play on websites are a nuisance for many web users. While some might say that Google's effort is not sufficient yet (as it does not currently provide a mute option for all audio contents), it is without doubt a step in the right direction as it improves the process for users of the browser.

Have you encountered auto-playing media contents on websites before? If so, how did you react to that?

Cloud Raiders is a strategy game with action elements. You start the game with some troops and a basic base, and your first task in the game is to improve that base to generate more revenue, hire troops, build defenses, and other buildings and units that help you defend your base against attacking pirates.

It is a multiplayer game which means that you can fight other players and join clans to improve your chance of success.

Attacks happen in real-time battles in which you spawn your units and command special attacks and other beneficial actions.

Units attack the enemy on their own with no option to control where they go or what they attack. While that is limiting, it is still great fun to watch how they wreck and plunder enemy bases.

Most actions cost time or resources to complete. Since you only have a limited amount, you can either sit and wait until resources replenish or buildings are completed, or speed things up with real money.

The main task in this beautifully looking game is to survive each night and reach dawn without losing your sanity.

It is essentially a game of hide and seek. You spend each night in a house filled with creepy things and creatures, and since fighting is no option, you have to hide or run instead.

The game is ideal for players who don't mind finding out how to play games on their own. Since there is no tutorial and only basic information on what you have to do, it is up to you to find out all of that on your own.

Like Star Wars: Assault Team, Star Wars: Commander takes place in the period of the first trilogy which means that you will encounter illustrious characters such as Darth Vader, Han Solo or Princess Leia while playing it.

The game puts you in control of a base which you need to improve on all levels. What is meant by that is you are not only responsible for the economic rise of the base but also for its defensive and offensive power.

It is possible to play missions either against the computer or other human players of the game.

Since you can play missions against others, others can also raid your base which is why it is important to strengthen your forces and upgrade your base's defense systems to be victorious in those raids.

You control your troops when you are attacking. Controlling means that you can place each unit type, from basic Stormtroopers to AT-ATs and Tie-Fighters (or the Rebel equivalent if you pick the Rebel side) on the battlefield but have no control over troops afterwards anymore.

You can join squads in the game which are made up of human players. The game integrates with Facebook and to use that functionality it is required that you connect your account to the game.

It needs to be noted that the game uses typical free to play mechanics for monetization. This means that you will run out of credits, alloy and the premium currency crystals pretty fast and can either wait for the first two to replenish over time or spend real money to get a one-time resource boost.

With that said, it is a great game if you don't mind the waiting time or spending money on it to speed things up.

Ninety-eighth in a series. Welcome to this week's episode of the best new apps and games for Microsoft's Windows 8.x operating system. This week saw the release of several high profile apps in store including the official New York Times Crossword application and the simple but addictive game Dots Out.

Both are not 100 percent free however, which explains why no app was awarded the best app of the week title.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games

Red Stripe Deals

Here is the list of apps and games that have been discounted this week by at least 50 percent.

Letter Drop can be described as a mix of Tetris and Scrabble. You try to create words by dropping letters from the top at the board. When you create a word it is removed to make space for additional words.

Several power ups such as bombs or options to switch letters are provided to help you achieve that task.

The game itself can be quite challenging since you need to reach a point target in each level and avoid at the same time the letters that hit the top of the board.

Dots Out is a game that you can only play against human opponents either locally or on the Internet.

The objective of the game is to shoot all enemy dots off the board. To do so you select one of your dots on the board and use the arrow to set a direction and power.

Game mechanics are really simple and easy to learn, and the 160 different levels that ship with the game offer a good amount of variety.

Most levels are locked however, and new ones are only unlocked when you beat the previous one. What makes this difficult is the fact that you have to pay chips to play a game which are added to a pool that the winner gets.

If you happen to lose, you may not have enough chips to continue playing the game unless you purchase chips in the built-in store.

Ninety-seventh in a series. Welcome to this week's episode of the best new apps and games for Microsoft's Windows 8.x operating system.

This week saw the release of several high quality applications and games for the Windows 8.x platform. App of the week is the deck building game Order & Chaos Duels which features great gameplay and graphics.

This week saw the release of NFL on Windows 8, probably the best National Football League application for the operating system yet.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games.

Red Stripe Deals

Up to six apps and games are discounted by 50 percent or more each week. This is this week's selection:

Daddy was a thief reminds me a bit of the classic computer game elevator mission with the difference that you are not going up but down this time and instead of using elevators, you smash through floors and obstacles.

The game can be played with the mouse and keyboard or using touch controls. The only options available to you are to jump up or down.

If you jump up, you stay in the level without crashing through the floor while the jump down action does just that.

The game throws many obstacles, some living some not, in your way which you can avoid or use to your advantage.

NFL on Windows 8 is one of the official NFL apps that got released this week (the other is NFL Sunday Ticket).

Some contents that the app makes available are accessible by users from all over the world while others, such as live games on NFL Network or RedZone, are restricted.

You can select a favorite team to follow to receive personalized news and information when they become available, and login to your fantasy account to manage your team and watch in-game video highlights.

Ninety-sixth in a series. Welcome to this week's installment of the best new apps and games for Microsoft's Windows 8.x operating system.

Microsoft removed 1500 apps from the store this week that did not meet quality guidelines and resulted in a bad user experience as a consequence. Users who purchased these apps are eligible for a refund according to Microsoft's announcement.

As far as apps are concerned, this week saw the release of a good selection of new games and applications. Among them NFL Now, one of the few official apps that lets users from all over the world stream videos, and the great looking Text-O-Matic app which provides you with the means to add text and other contents to photos.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games.

Red Stripe Deals

Up to six apps and games are discounted by 50 percent or more each week. This is this week's selection:

NFL Now is an official application that is offering free limited contents to users from all over the world and what is called NFL Now Plus, a subscription to access additional content limited to subscribers.

Before you start watching videos you can pick your favorite team or link a fantasy football team as well. The app uses the information to provide you with contents of interest.

Several hundred videos are currently available for free including game previews, can't miss plays or division specific videos.

DeviantArt is a large social network for artists to showcase and comment on art including drawings, wallpapers or themes.

The client for Windows 8 enables you to browse categories of interest right from within the app.

Options to browse popular creations or individual categories are provided and the browsing is actually improved over how you browse the Internet site as more results are displayed at the same time on the screen.

A click on a result opens it in full screen in the app. There is unfortunately no option to download it to the local system or interact with it in any way.

This includes no option to open the Deviant Art page or leave a comment.

The quality of releases has picked up again. This week saw the release of several new Microsoft games, Hungry Shark Revolution and Microsoft Jackpot, as well as the release of the excellent podcasting app EzPodder and the strategy game Plight of the Zombies.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games

Red Stripe Deals

Up to six apps and games are discounted by 50 percent or more each week. This is this week's selection:

Ah, the life of a shark.Evolve your shark from a tiny being to the most impressive jaw dropping specimen that makes the great white shark look like a tiddler.

You start the game controlling a reef shark but can unlock other sharks including a great white. Some of these are only available as premium currency though which you can earn in the game but also purchase in-app.

Your first task in the game is to eat nearly everything that is in the water. As soon as you start hunting and eating fish, your will gain experience which in turn will increase the size of the shark.

While you can eat nearly anything, including divers and swimmers, you will encounter objects such as mines or rival sharks that you better avoid as they will drain health and if you run out of that, it is game over.

Coins are earned while playing the game and they can be invested in improving attributes such as speed or bite.

All in all a fun game that plays very well both with a mouse and touch.

Ninety-third in a series. Welcome to this week's selection of the best new applications and games for the Windows 8.x operating system.

This week has not seen many new releases which is why the list of apps below is rather short when compared to other weeks.

The award of the best app of the week goes to Tentacles: Enter the Mind. It is an arcade game in which you control a tentacle by touch or with the mouse. It features excellent graphics, sound and gameplay, and is lots of fun to play.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games

Red Stripe Deals

Microsoft discounts up to six apps and games each week by 50 percent or more. This is this week's selection:

The game may not be available for all Store users yet. It can best be described as a jump and run game even though there is little running and jumping involved due to the fact that you are controlling a tentacle.

Levels are in 3D and you use your fangs to move in the environment. This means avoiding enemies, collecting coins, and doing all the usual things that one does in an arcade game including finding secrets, using power ups, gaining abilities or collecting special items such as eggs or eyes.

The game features great graphics and music, and controls are great with touch or mouse.

This is the successor of the first part of the tower defense series. The game features everything that you have come to expect from a tower defense game, from campaign and single player missions to an intricate tower upgrade system and freedom to place towers anywhere on the map to create a maze that enemy units need to get through.

As far as towers are concerned, you start with a selection of three towers that have individual advantages and disadvantages. The cheapest tower is ideal for creating a maze quickly, but it lacks the firepower to stop heavily armed units.

The mace tower on the other hand does splash damage to ground units but does not attack air units at all.

Each tower can be upgraded, first into just one tower but once you purchase additional towers in the shop, into different ones that provide you with additional tactical means to beat a level.

You can change the difficulty level of each map by changing the hardness value. All in all, this is a fun game for people who like Tower Defense or strategy games.